Hours after taking office on January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order freezing all U.S. foreign aid for 90 days. What followed was the systematic dismantlement of USAID, the government's humanitarian arm: stop-work orders shuttered HIV clinics in Ivory Coast, refugee camps lost infrastructure support, and 3.8 million women lost access to contraceptive care. By March, the administration had terminated 5,800 contracts, fired over 1,600 employees, and placed nearly all of USAID's 4,700 workers on leave. Secretary of State Marco Rubio took control of the agency, calling it "completely unresponsive" and announcing plans to absorb what remains into the State Department.
Hours after taking office on January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order freezing all U.S. foreign aid for 90 days. What followed was the systematic dismantlement of USAID, the government's humanitarian arm: stop-work orders shuttered HIV clinics in Ivory Coast, refugee camps lost infrastructure support, and 3.8 million women lost access to contraceptive care. By March, the administration had terminated 5,800 contracts, fired over 1,600 employees, and placed nearly all of USAID's 4,700 workers on leave. Secretary of State Marco Rubio took control of the agency, calling it "completely unresponsive" and announcing plans to absorb what remains into the State Department.
The fight to save USAID briefly found a champion in an unlikely place: Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee to the federal bench. On February 7, he blocked the administration from placing 2,200 employees on leave and reinstated 500 already sidelined, ruling that overseas workers faced "irreparable injury" by losing access to email, payment, and security warnings in dangerous locations. The relief lasted two weeks. On February 21, Nichols reversed course, finding the unions couldn't prove irreparable harm. Hours later, the mass firings began. At stake: a $35 billion agency that saved 25 million lives through PEPFAR, responded to humanitarian crises worldwide, and represented America's soft power presence in 55 countries.
