The U.S. State Department has begun its official 90-day review of USAID’s programs — though hundreds of awards have already been terminated by the agency.
That’s according to several different sources who attended a State Department “listening session” on Thursday, which was led by the director of the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance, Peter Marocco.
Marocco told the group — a collection of USAID implementing partners, government representatives, and think tanks — that the awards already terminated had been cancelled to align with President Donald Trump’s executive order on diversity, equity, and inclusion because they were “illegal,” or because they had no real value. It’s not clear what sort of review process those awards went through, as the State Department did not respond to comment for this story.
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.
