It’s not just USAID on the verge of extinction. Aid-adjacent agencies are also in the crosshairs of the administration, which has wasted no time dismantling the U.S. African Development Foundation and its sister agency, the Inter-American Foundation.
A court ruled that Peter Marocco — who spearheaded the elimination effort — did not have the authority to dissolve IAF, but that didn’t stop him from gutting USADF, canceling hundreds of awards — and terminating dozens of staff — at one of the government’s smallest agencies.
Litigation to preserve USADF is ongoing, Elissa writes, but that’s cold comfort to some former staffers.
“It takes five minutes to cancel a grant, but potentially months to reverse it,” says one USADF staff member. “I am hoping the Judge will rule in our favor, and if he does, what will we have to come back to? Irreparable damage has already been made.”
Read: Trump admin cuts hundreds of grants at USADF despite legal limbo