The role of aid in influence
According to Trump’s executive order, the “United States foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values.” But supporters of USAID say that shuttering the agency will not only endanger lives, but will also endanger national security.
USAID was created in 1961, during the Cold War, as the international humanitarian and development arm of the U.S. government — in part aimed at countering Soviet influence abroad. In 1998, USAID was enshrined as its own federal agency funded by Congress.
Today, it’s argued U.S. assistance continues to be a tool of influence worldwide. USAID provides assistance to “strategically important countries” and “assists U.S. commercial interests by supporting developing countries’ economic growth and building countries’ capacity to participate in world trade,” according to the Congressional Research Service.
In fiscal year 2023, USAID was responsible for around $42.5 billion in foreign assistance. Considering how much money is at stake, a freeze on spending is being felt globally — with many programs put on hold overnight. One veteran humanitarian worker told the BBC the pause was “like an earthquake across the aid sector.”
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Learn MoreWhat are the implications of dismantling USAID?
The Trump administration is reportedly looking to make USAID a branch of the State Department. That could potentially change the way aid is distributed since, up until now, the agency has been able to provide assistance in countries that don’t have diplomatic relations with the U.S.
The implications of a USAID shutdown are many. For example, the abrupt halt to funding nearly led U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria — who oversee a makeshift prison of 9,000 to 10,000 ISIS fighters — to walk off the job. Officials view these ISIS fighters as a “potential terrorist army in waiting,” according to Politico, which is why the State Department scrambled to push through an exemption to reinstate funding.
Experts say the shuttering of USAID could also create more room for China to wield its influence.
“As China expands its diplomatic and economic influence around the world, American support for systems of oversight, accountability and sustainable economic and environmental decisions helps prevent China from entrapping countries in debt and diplomatic subservience and from monopolizing critical minerals or strategic access points,” according to a commentary from the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has now taken over as acting director of USAID. Democrats argue that without congressional assent, shuttering USAID is illegal. The eventual fate of the agency could be up to the courts.
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