Conference call: Inside the White House attacks on US aid

For the second summer in a row, the Trump administration moved to retract billions of dollars in already appropriated aid funds. The proposal — and subsequent spending freeze on targeted accounts — prompted a renewed outcry from the global development community, with some NGOs considering legal action against the administration. Devex Managing Editor Deborah Charles and Senior Reporter Michael Igoe dug into the political dynamics between the White House and Congress to share exclusive insights on the battle to protect aid budgets — and what precedent these repeated rescission attempts might set for the future of U.S aid. Highlights from this 30-minute conference call include: • An overview of the Office of Management and Budget’s foreign aid rescission attempts and how the most recent case differed from the actions of last summer. • What types of funding were targeted by the directive, the areas potentially still at risk, and updates on the 2% daily spending cap impacting these accounts. • The varied responses to rescission threats from Congress, USAID, NGOs, and civil society — from advocacy to legislation and legal recourse. • What these complex political dynamics could mean for U.S. aid budgets going forward. Speaker: Michael Igoe, senior reporter, Devex Moderator: Deborah Charles, managing editor, Devex Have follow-up questions? Send them to webinars@devex.com. And stay tuned for further reporting from Michael Igoe on a potential 25% weekly spending cap on affected accounts. Listen to the full call here: