For the last six months, Andrea Capellán has been asking questions — and as a director at USAID’s Office of Acquisition and Assistance, she had expected answers.
But ever since the Trump administration froze foreign aid in January, Capellán — and countless other contracting officers at the U.S. Agency for International Development — were met with silence, chaos, and a “minefield of questionable and potentially illegal orders.”
That’s according to a memo Capellán filed on July 28, which was sent to Rebecca Krzywda, USAID’s deputy assistant administrator in the Bureau for Management; Michael Capobianco, the acting director of Capellán’s office; and the USAID inspector general. It was obtained and verified by Devex the following day.
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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.
