After 10 months of upheaval, two U.S. development agencies — the Millennium Challenge Corporation, or MCC, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, or DFC — have managed to hold their ground.
It wasn’t always a sure bet, especially for MCC. But nearly a year after the Trump administration’s overhaul of foreign aid began, both agencies have quietly returned to work. Former MCC leaders spoke about how the agency could better position itself for aid’s new world order at the Devex Impact House on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings.
“Each one of those advantages that MCC has, in terms of its effectiveness, comes with a disadvantage,” said James Mazzarella, who served as senior director at the National Security Council during the first Trump administration, overseeing MCC, and later as an alternate member of the MCC board. “It might be the right speed to be effective, but it’s not the right speed to meet the moment of the current administration’s needs.”
About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
