At the end of March, the Trump administration told the U.S. Congress that its foreign aid review was complete. Now, it seems like the government has backtracked — with an internal email from the State Department stating the review has been extended for another 30 days.
“With our additional time, we will work on doing another round of bureau feedback and get recommendations up to S and then over to [the Office of Management and Budget],” said Jeremy Lewin, the new director of foreign assistance at the State Department, referring to the secretary of state. “The timeline should now fit nicely with the budget proposal and better reflect the fact that, in view of the rapid S review of USAID and State [foreign aid] programs in February, the [foreign assistance review] is now more of a prospective budgetary document.”
President Donald Trump announced his foreign aid review the day he stepped into the White House. That review — and the corresponding freeze on foreign assistance — was meant to last 90 days, meaning it would have concluded on April 20, 2025. But for weeks, the administration has said that the review was complete, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating that its purge of programs had been finished after six weeks.
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.
