Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has saved millions of lives. Now it’s down millions of dollars, if the Trump administration has its way.
Also in today’s edition: Unconstitutional power grab or “crap” programming? Democratic and Republican senators spar over U.S. foreign aid.
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Broken promises
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. knows how to make a splash — even when he’s speaking in a prerecorded video. The U.S. secretary of health and human services — and proud vaccine skeptic — used a recording to break the news that the U.S. would not be giving anything to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for its latest replenishment, at least not until it works to “re-earn the public trust” on vaccine safety.
That cryptic statement probably elicited its own skepticism among Gavi’s supporters, given the organization’s long record of safety and saving lives.
In his speech — which came during Gavi’s pledging event, co-hosted by the European Union and the Gates Foundation in Brussels — Kennedy asked Gavi to “justify” the steadily rising amount of funding that America has provided over the years.
Supporters quickly offered that justification. Liza Barrie of Public Citizen notes that Gavi has “helped vaccinate more than a billion children and save over 17 million lives.” Gavi itself estimates that without U.S. funding, more than 1.2 million children in low- and middle-income countries will die over the next five years.
Former U.S. President Joe Biden promised to provide at least $1.58 billion to support Gavi’s work from 2026 through 2030, but Kennedy said the Trump administration is reneging on that pledge. It also excluded funding for Gavi in its fiscal year 2026 budget request to Congress.
But wait, speaking of the U.S. Congress, where is it?
Technically, it’s up to Congress to make these kinds of decisions — and that’s historically how funding to Gavi has been allocated.
“Congress alone holds the power to fund Gavi, which it has done repeatedly, with strong bipartisan support,” says Elizabeth Hoffman of the ONE Campaign.
But this Republican-led Congress isn’t exactly known for ignoring Trump’s demands. Josh Michaud of KFF tells my colleague Sara Jerving that Kennedy’s statement called into question what role Congress would play. Michaud also points out that congressional opposition hasn’t “stopped the Administration from cutting other foreign assistance and global health funding that was appropriated by Congress.”
Read: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the US is cutting funding for Gavi
By the numbers
Overall, the big Brussels donor gathering was a mixed bag for Gavi. The group finalized its five-year investment round with more than $9 billion in pledges — falling short of its total budget request of $11.9 billion.
There were surprises, Sara writes — not just Kennedy’s announcement, but, on a brighter note, a larger-than-expected commitment from the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, the U.K.’s pledge is still 24% less than its previous five-year tally.
Like so many aid groups, Gavi will have to make do.
“Gavi will now face tough choices about how to allocate its available resources — without compromising on its impact. Achieving this will require safeguarding its core mandate and keeping a laser focus on its comparative advantage in supporting vaccines for children in the poorest countries,” Janeen Madan Keller of the Center for Global Development wrote in a statement. “That said, Gavi must also find some cost savings by reducing or identifying efficiencies in its non-vaccine grant-based programs.”
Read: Gavi pledges fall short about $2.9B as US pulls out
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Clawing back ‘crap’?
The Trump administration wants to claw back $9.4 billion in funds — most of it for foreign assistance — that Congress has already approved. Now, it’s the Senate’s turn to decide whether to accede to the White House’s request.
And based on a hearing yesterday, there is plenty of reticence among senators to give up Congress’ constitutional power of the purse.
“We’re being asked to rescind billions of dollars without even knowing which programs are being canceled,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, during the hearing. “It’s big baskets of money, so you have no idea whether the program that you are prioritizing is going to be cut or not.”
That line of questioning was directed toward the White House’s budget chief, Russell Vought, who criticized programs such as a “$330,000 [grant] for LGBTQ advocacy in Uganda” and a “$9.3 million [grant] to advise Russian doctors on how to perform abortions” — both of which he said were funded through PEPFAR.
Those examples resonated with Sen. Lindsay Graham, a one-time strong supporter of foreign aid.
“To my Democratic colleagues, there is a consequence to this crap,” the Republican said, adding that Vought had opened his eyes to PEPFAR spending. “You’ve taken a program that really has saved people’s lives, and you let people run it who are nuts. Well, there’s a cost to that.”
Read: White House defends $9.4 billion clawback amid Senate concerns
He’s baaack …
After eviscerating USAID and reportedly being ousted from his State Department post, Peter Marocco has returned to the scene, albeit in less dramatic fashion.
He’s resurfaced to continue his campaign to dismantle the U.S. African Development Foundation, a small agency that used to support African-led businesses across the continent until Marocco commandeered it a few months ago, leaving it with one employee and a fraction of the over 500 grants it held before Trump returned to office.
Now, he has canceled nearly 50 more contracts, my colleague Elissa Miolene reports.
The move comes two weeks after a judge threw out a case against Marocco brought by USADF’s former president, Ward Brehm, and others. But that’s not the end of the legal challenges. Last month, a Zambia-based USADF partner, Rural Development Innovations, and two former employees filed another lawsuit arguing, in part, that Marocco was “legally a stranger to USADF” when he effectively shuttered it.
Read: Peter Marocco resurfaces to cancel nearly 50 more grants at USADF
It’s also back
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, known as FEWS NET, historically funded by USAID, was one of the many casualties of the agency’s closure — but it’s being resurrected.
“Management of the FEWS NET program is expected to transition to the State Department in the coming weeks,” the network announced in a statement. While an earlier draft of a House appropriations bill floated moving FEWS NET to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that provision was later removed.
Its resumption is likely a tremendous relief to the aid organizations that relied on the program’s timely, in-depth analyses and projections to coordinate and prioritize their own responses to humanitarian crises, my colleague Ayenat Mersie writes.
“The return of FEWS NET sends an important message, reminding the world that American foreign assistance is both generous and strategic,” the network said in its statement.
While the return of this vital tool can help prevent and prepare for humanitarian crises such as famine, it does not guarantee that aid will reach those in need. An outlook it released covering June to September highlights worsening hunger in some of the world’s most fragile contexts, from Gaza to Sudan to Haiti. But with major aid cuts both in the U.S. and globally, the question of whether food will actually reach these hot spots looms large.
Read: FEWS NET, once USAID’s flagship famine warning system, is back online
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In other news
The wealth of the world’s billionaires rose by $6.5 trillion in the last decade, enough to end global poverty 22 times over, says Oxfam, which is urging a 2% wealth tax and a crackdown on tax havens. [The Guardian]
China’s finance minister Lan Fo’an has warned at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank meeting in Beijing that a global decline in development aid is leaving emerging countries strapped for funds to support cross‑border infrastructure and has urged the bank to ramp up financing. [Reuters]
The World Bank has greenlit more than $1 billion for reconstruction and infrastructure development in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. [AP]
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About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
