Scoop: USAID asks partners for information on recently cut awards

Over the last 48 hours, thousands of awards were canceled across the U.S. Agency for International Development — but now, the agency is going back to partners with a question: Did we cut your project? “We understand there may be confusion regarding recent termination notices,” wrote Cara Christie, a deputy director of global policy, partnerships, programs and communications at USAID. “We are working to ascertain the current status of assistance awards.” The email was sent to organizations across the world, with several telling Devex it came after they received termination letters just hours before. In the message, organizations severed from the agency were asked to include the country where the project used to operate, the award number, and whether or not the program had been given a full or partial waiver to deliver lifesaving humanitarian aid. “We welcome any additional information you would like to provide, including a copy of the termination notice you received,” Christie wrote. For many partners, it was a confirmation of what they already knew: the USAID staff they’d been working with — in some cases, for years — had not been involved in the agency’s mass terminations. Typically, a termination notice is delivered by the contracting officers involved with the awards, who are the authorized personnel to commit funds for the U.S. government. But throughout the day on Thursday, officials from several organizations told Devex they were the ones to tell their contracting officers that their programs had been terminated, not the other way around. Some termination letters reviewed by Devex were from Adam Cox, a deputy director at the Office of Acquisition and Assistance; others were from Nadeem Shah, who holds the same title. Both officials have the authority to terminate awards — but for many, it added a layer of additional confusion to the cancellations. “We got termination letters communicated directly to us, but the agreement and contracting officers didn’t even know about them,” said the leader of one global health organization. “That’s a total violation of the way it’s supposed to work.” For many organizations, they felt that left the status of their termination in limbo. Was it an official cancellation if it didn’t come directly from their contracting officer? The answer is yes, as long as it came from a warranted member of staff, a former senior contracting officer told Devex. But still, organizations began reaching out to their contracting officers themselves, trying to ascertain whether this lapse might mean their programs could remain on life support. “Not telling the staff what was terminated is perfectly on brand for this so-called review,” said one humanitarian official who received Christie’s email on behalf of his organization on Thursday. “They aren’t paying their bills, they aren’t keeping their promises to preserve lifesaving aid, why should they bother to keep records or communicate to those few left to manage the programs?” Christie and the State Department did not respond in time to comment on this story.