This is a special Saturday edition of Devex Pro Insider from Senior Reporter Michael Igoe. For the next few months, this newsletter will tackle some of the biggest questions about the future of U.S. foreign aid, with insider reporting and analysis delivered straight to your inbox.
This week, the U.S. State Department formally absorbed the remains of USAID, bringing an end to the agency’s 64-year run as an independent pillar of U.S. foreign policy.
Legally, USAID still exists — its responsibilities are etched into federal statutes — but what remains is a hollowed-out shell that will be consumed with the “legacy activities” of shutting itself down, “until legislation authorizing the Secretary of State to abolish the agency is enacted and implemented,” according to an internal State Department white paper I obtained.