The Trump administration’s assault on USAID will help China and Russia and hurt countries friendly to the United States, current and former government officials say. And it will undermine Ukraine’s efforts to fend off invasion and lead to the unnecessary deaths of troops and civilians, Ukrainian military leaders said on a recent visit to Washington, D.C.
“We should understand that it’s not only about some small projects in some NGOs. It’s about people’s lives,” one Ukrainian commander said Monday.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is best known as an organization that provides humanitarian assistance to people around the world—including to governments under direct military attack, such as Ukraine, or ones targeted for election interference, such as Moldova.
USAID does not—and cannot—provide direct military support to Ukraine. But because all of Ukraine is under attack, the country’s civilian and military healthcare systems overlap significantly, with some civilian medical facilities located less than a kilometer from the front line. So supporting the civilian healthcare system in Ukraine indirectly supports the country’s fight against Russia.
A January memo from USAID obtained by Defense One outlines $35 billion in development assistance the agency provided to Ukraine since the start of the invasion, including money to enable the “government to provide emergency services and support to public employees—such as frontline health workers—undertaking essential duties at a time of crisis.” But the assistance also funds energy initiatives, helping the government pay workers, and other items.
Having medical supplies readily available is crucial not just for keeping soldiers alive, but also for doing military planning, since predicted casualty numbers are part of the operation planning process, the commander said. Ukraine is reportedly talking to European allies about replacing the assistance USAID has provided if the funds are cut off, but finding a new source of support makes things more difficult.
Countering Chinese and Russian influence
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was named acting director of USAID on Monday, said in a letter to lawmakers that USAID will “move, reorganize, and integrate certain missions, bureaus, and offices into the Department of State, and the remainder of the Agency may be abolished consistent with applicable law,” the Washington Post reported. Employees on Tuesday began receiving notices that they would be placed on administrative leave.
The agency’s headquarters in DC was also closed, with employees locked out their online work accounts and dozens of senior staff put on leave. Elon Musk, the billionaire defense contractor at the head of the recently created Department of Government Efficiency, has targeted the agency, and in a live stream Monday on X, which he owns, called it a “criminal organization.”
USAID officials reported that individuals working for DOGE, some of whom have previously worked Musk’s companies, attempted to gain access to classified materials in USAID’s possession.
Katie Miller, wife of Trump advisor Stephen Miller, is serving as a spokesperson for DOGE. She posted on X on Monday that, “No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances.”
A January 20 executive order grants Trump the ability to extend security clearances to whomever he sees fit, for a period of six months. But Miller did not respond to a Defense One query asking for clarification on whether DOGE workers attempting to access classified information had passed any sort of formal background check.
Democratic lawmakers have voiced serious concerns about the effects of shuttering the agency so abruptly.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on Monday told CNN that “Congress writes a law that dictates how USAID spends money, to make sure that we’re countering Chinese influence inside Africa, to make sure that we don’t lose access to critical mineral supplies, so that we’re fighting back against Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
In Ukraine, the agency has done far more than provide emergency medical supplies, according to the memo. For example, USAID also worked to offset the costs to the global food supply caused by Russia’s attacks on Ukraine farmers and grain producers.. Other investments include sovereign loan guarantees allowing Ukraine to access “$20 billion in immobilized Russian sovereign assets,” essentially helping Ukraine’s economy continue to grow. The agency played a big role in helping Ukraine transform its economy to be more resilient, and emerge as a “potential as a world leader in digital innovation” despite the ongoing conflict, according to the memo.
One former senior government official said USAID has been an essential part of the effort to account for U.S. weapons and other aid to Ukraine. The agency is “enabling Ukrainian oversight over that direct budget support, and in the Ministry of Finance. And as a result, I think other Ukrainian ministries have taken on that example to expand their own oversight, building their own systems, because those systems and that oversight is critical to retaining U.S. support.”
A current U.S. government official who has worked directly with USAID said agency workers are able to apply for special waivers from the State Department to unfreeze vital aid, such as for Ukraine. But they might be competing against a variety of other USAID teams.
A third U.S. government official said USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, which responds to the most urgent needs, could get a waiver specifically to carry out key support functions in places like Ukraine. The official described the bureau as similar to a special operations force: small but able to quickly maneuver in and out of countries to contend with crises that could escalate quickly. In regard to Ukraine, the official said, “I would expect that they’re probably focused on would-be payroll assistance for the government, a lot of things that were going through, aid to pay for keeping Ukraine running.”
All of the current and former officials emphasized the importance of USAID efforts in countering Chinese influence around the globe, such as in Eastern Europe where the Russian government is actively attempting to undermine free elections in order to install officials sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It’s just critically important that we help those countries grow more resilient, to withstand Russian aggression. And if you undercut the programming that USAID has, you’re inviting a free hand for Russian meddling,” one of the officials said.
USAID is also critical to combating growing Chinese influence in other places in the world. For example, in Africa, where AFRICOM Commander Gen. Michael Langley in October specifically highlighted the agency’s role in stabilizing regions, which facilitates continued U.S. operations.
USAID and Congress
The role of USAID in countering Russian and Chinese influence isn’t lost on many lawmakers—including some Trump allies.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss, said Monday: “I have felt for a long time that USAID is our way to combat the Belt and Road Initiative, which is China’s effort to really gain influence around the world, including Africa and South America and the Western Hemisphere. So we need an aid program to match the Chinese effort.” But Wicker is concerned about allegations of mismanagement at the agency, and wants to make sure aid efforts reflect what “policy makers of the United States have decided [they] ought to be doing, so I’m eager to see an audit,” he said.
But the second official said Congress is actually a big part of the reason USAID gets a bad rap.
The agency has been “regulated and has been picked to pieces by Congress,” they said. Specifically, many of the agency’s new programs must be approved by Congress. But the process is highly inefficient and results in money going to areas that are less urgent.
For example, the official said, USAID was pursuing a program to provide solar power for one community, but Congress killed the initiative out of fear that the chips in the solar panels might have to come from China. The end result: USAID had to spend the money on another area, before it expired altogether.
“You’ve got to throw it into something that exists already,” like a job program, they said.
