USAID official warns of toll Trump's foreign aid cuts will have
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Former United States Agency for International Development (USAID) employees terminated after the Trump administration dismantled the agency collect their personal belongings at the USAID headquarters on Feb. 27 in Washington, DC. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
A U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) official wrote in a series of memos that the Trump administration's upheaval of U.S. foreign aid will trigger devastating human costs.
The big picture: With lifesaving services blocked, Nicholas Enrich — USAID's acting assistant administrator for global health — warned, "preventable death, destabilization, and threats to national security on a massive scale" will follow.
- Enrich was placed on administrative leave on Sunday, multiple outlets reported. The reason why is unclear, but he told the New York Times that he released the memos after he was put on leave.
- The State Department did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
What he's saying: USAID's "failure" to implement lifesaving humanitarian aid despite the State Department's waiver, which was meant to exempt such assistance from the funding freeze, "is the result of political leadership," Enrich wrote in one of the memos.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio (also the acting head of USAID) announced in January that the department would grant a waiver so life-saving humanitarian assistance would still be issued during the 90-day review period.
- But Enrich wrote that political leadership and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers created intentional and non-intentional barriers to prevent USAID from implementing those exemptions.
- Such obstacles outlined by Enrich include blocking payment systems (followed by creating new, "ineffective" payment processes), implementing "ever-changing guidance" and refusing to pay for assistance activities.
Catch up quick: The Trump administration is axing 92% in foreign assistance-related grants to save nearly $60 billion, the State Department confirmed last week. It intends to nix 10,000 contracts and grants.
- And last month, thousands of USAID employees were fired as DOGE staffers carve through what the administration has deemed government bloat — but what critics warn is essential programming.
- During the administration's sweeping aid freeze, local partners receiving federal funds across the globe have largely been stranded, with many having to suspend services and lay off staff.
Zoom out: In a separate memo from Enrich obtained by the New York Times, he quantified the dire impacts of withdrawing assistance, which he said will prompt "increased death and disability," among other health and national security risks.
Enrich's estimates include:
- An additional 12.5 to 17.9 million cases of malaria over one year should programs be permanently halted and up to 166,000 more deaths annually.
- An additional 200,000 paralytic polio cases per year if programs are permanently ceased.
- One million children not treated annually for severe acute malnutrition.
He urged the administration to resume "all mechanisms with submitted life-saving waivers to avert crisis-level expenditures, prevent mortality and morbidity, and protect national security."
- As a result of the pause and blocks to restoring programs providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance, millions now face heightened risks of preventable diseases, Enrich wrote.
- Beyond the immediate impacts, critical disease surveillance and health supply chain systems will take a hit, according to his memo, increasing the likelihood of "unchecked outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases," like the avian flu.
The other side: Rubio acknowledged in an interview last month that the pause has been "disruptive for some programs" but said "a blanket waiver for emergency humanitarian support" had been issued.
- But Enrich's memos underscore the turmoil aid organizations on the ground have experienced, as they have reported being unable to resume services and draw down necessary funds.
