Washington: Hundreds of diplomats at the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development have formally written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio protesting the dismantling of USAID, saying its dismantling undermines U.S. leadership and security and leaves power vacuums for China and Russia to fill. In a cable filed with the department’s internal “dissent … Read more
A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to let President Donald Trump’s administration withhold payment to foreign aid organizations for work they already performed for the government as the Republican president moves to pull the plug on American humanitarian projects around the world. Handing a setback to Trump, the court in a 5-4 decision … Read more
A senior official with the U.S. Agency for International Development in an email on Sunday warned that the Trump administration’s dismantling of the agency will result in unnecessary deaths — only to email his staff less than 30 minutes later to say that he had been placed on leave. Nicholas Enrich, USAID’s acting assistant administrator … Read more
India’s first three clinics for the transgender community closed last month following a stop-work order from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) that funded them, disrupting services for nearly 5,000 people, Reuters reported quoting two sources. US President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid in January pending a review to … Read more
The United States has dramatically cut the budgets of overseas development and aid programs, with multi-year contracts pared down by 92 percent, or $54 billion, the State Department said Wednesday.On his first day in office, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order demanding a freeze on all US foreign aid for 90 days. The … Read more
US Agency for International Development workers were allowed to briefly reenter the headquarters in Washington on Thursday to collect their personal belongings and clear out their desks, a day after President Donald Trump’s administration said it was cutting more than 90% of the agency’s aid contracts. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid … Read more
New Delhi: The US Agency for International Development (USAID) staff will be “escorted” to their workstations and given “15 minutes” to retrieve personal belongings from their Washington DC headquarter later this week. On its website, the agency published the “specific instructions” that former employees must adhere to reclaim personal belongings from the Ronald Reagan Building … Read more
Washington: President Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday said it was placing all personnel at the foreign assistance agency USAID, except leaders and critical staff around the world, on paid administrative leave and eliminating 1,600 positions in the United States. Just before midnight on Sunday US Eastern Time, all United States Agency for International Development direct … Read more
New Delhi: US President Donald Trump today launched fresh criticism of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for allegedly granting funds to interfere in India’s election process. President Trump questioned why the US was providing aid to India, alleging that the country already benefits from high tariffs imposed on American goods. “Eighteen million … Read more
A “political Covid” has infected the Indian polity and society, weakening the democracy, suggested Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday while reacting to US President Donald Trump’s criticism about $21 million in United States government funding for India – via global aid agency USAID in 2012 – for ‘voter turnout’, calling it a “kickback scheme”. … Read more
New Delhi: Donald Trump on Thursday repeated his criticism about $21 million in United States government funding for India – via global aid agency USAID in 2012 – for ‘voter turnout‘, calling it a “kickback scheme” and declaring, “What the hell do I care about it? We got enough problems (of our own).” The US … Read more
India said the US Agency for International Development (USAID) $21 million fund for ‘voter turnout in India’ in 2012, “raises worries of interference in Indian internal matters, and relevant agencies are looking into it.” The Ministry of External Affairs’ response to the $21 million ‘India Fund’ sanctioned by USAID came after a political clash between … Read more