• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News
    • The Future of US aid

    USAID braces for change as administrator steps down

    U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green announces he will step down in April, raising questions about USAID's future in the midst of a global pandemic and a U.S. election.

    By Michael Igoe // 16 March 2020
    USAID Administrator Mark Green. Photo by: REUTERS / POOL

    WASHINGTON — Mark Green, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, announced Monday that he will step down from his post on April 10, confirming earlier reports of his impending departure.

    “He had the confidence of Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill to drive America's global development agenda.”

    — Liz Schrayer, president and CEO, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition

    Green has led the agency since August 2017, overseeing a major reorganization that aimed to orient USAID around the goal of building countries’ self-reliance to help them transition away from foreign assistance. Despite repeated attempts by the White House to slash USAID’s budget, he managed to carry out his plans, which were generally well regarded among U.S. development advocates, with support from the U.S. Congress.

    US lawmakers reject budget cuts, question USAID policy

    Lawmakers made use of their first opportunity to publicly question the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2021 foreign aid budget.

    Green wrote to USAID staff on Monday. He began by expressing his concern for staff and their families during the COVID-19 outbreak and sharing an update about agencywide guidance and staff care resources available to support them.

    Then Green shared news of his decision to leave USAID and join the private sector.

    “My plans to transition have been in the works for a while, and although there is never an ideal time, my primary goal has been to ensure the Agency was strong and our priorities were moving forward,” Green wrote.

    After he leaves USAID, Green plans to lead the McCain Institute for International Leadership, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that was previously led by Ambassador Kurt Volker, President Trump's former special envoy to Ukraine.

    U.S. development advocates were appreciative of Green’s leadership of the agency during a tumultuous period.

    “He has modernized aid for the better, scaled up private sector engagement, and focused America’s development agenda on self-reliance – while never losing sight of our nation’s humanitarian values. The development community owes him a debt of gratitude,” said Liz Schrayer, president and CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, in a statement.

    “I think it’s really a testament to Mark’s professionalism, creativity, and smarts that he has been able to achieve a remarkable amount across a range of issues — all the way from humanitarian to private sector, long-term investment. So our hats are all off to him,” said Tom Hart, North American executive director of the ONE Campaign.

    Others expressed some trepidation about what might come next.

    “My immediate reaction is that it will weaken USAID in this [budget] cycle,” said Conor Savoy, executive director of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network.

    While initial reports of Green’s plans have suggested that Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick would assume the role of acting administrator after his departure, multiple people with knowledge of the situation told Devex there is some uncertainty about whether that will happen.

    Neither the statement from Green nor the one from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo included any details about the transition plan, and USAID did not respond to a question from Devex about who would assume the administrator’s responsibilities upon Green’s departure.

    Throughout his tenure, Green has walked a tight line between the administration’s skepticism of foreign aid and the bipartisan consensus that global development programs should be sustained.

    In February, the White House — for the fourth consecutive year — proposed a budget that included deep cuts to U.S. global development programs. As is customary for the person in his role, Green defended the administration’s plans on Capitol Hill earlier this month to lawmakers who showed little interest in supporting the proposal but who nonetheless have continued to express support for Green’s leadership of the agency.

    “One of the reasons Mark was so successful was because he had the confidence of Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill to drive America's global development agenda,” Schrayer wrote to Devex by email.

    “Whoever comes in will have to have the credibility and ability to work with Congress, particularly given lawmakers’ long-standing bipartisan support for foreign assistance. That’s what I will be looking for,” she added.

    Savoy noted that Green has also built a good relationship with Pompeo, which enabled him to push back against the White House’s attempts to rescind U.S. foreign assistance funding last year.

    USAID’s reorganization efforts remain a work in progress. On Feb. 11, the agency legally established three new bureaus, marking a shift from the design phase to the implementation phase of the transformation agenda that Green has led. Savoy referred to this as “a critical moment, as they’re actually implementing the new bureaus and organizational structure.”

    “It leaves open the question of what happens next,” he said.

    Green’s departure comes on the heels of last week’s declaration by the World Health Organization that the COVID-19 health crisis meets the criteria for a global pandemic. While there have so far been relatively fewer cases of the virus in many of the countries where USAID’s programs operate, that is widely expected to change.

    Green’s successor will face the challenge of leading a dispersed workforce through a massive global health response effort in the midst of a U.S. election year.

    “I think we’re all waiting with bated breath for this to hit countries with weaker health systems than have been hit so far. AID has the people, the professionalism, and the know-how to respond to that when it happens — if it happens,” Hart said.

    “I do hope that our own domestic response can also leave room for assistance when and where needed,” he added.

    Adva Saldinger contributed reporting to this article.

    • Institutional Development
    • Global Health
    • USAID
    • Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Michael Igoe

      Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe

      Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.

    Search for articles

    Related Stories

    The Trump EffectTrump official behind USAID's dismantling exits the State Department

    Trump official behind USAID's dismantling exits the State Department

    The future of US aidExclusive: Don’t email us, we’ve got very few answers, USAID staff told

    Exclusive: Don’t email us, we’ve got very few answers, USAID staff told

    The future of US aidDismantling without a merger: How Trump and Musk undermined USAID

    Dismantling without a merger: How Trump and Musk undermined USAID

    The Future of US AidScoop: USAID closes headquarters Monday amid Trump transition chaos

    Scoop: USAID closes headquarters Monday amid Trump transition chaos

    Most Read

    • 1
      How low-emissions livestock are transforming dairy farming in Africa
    • 2
      Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
    • 3
      Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB
    • 4
      The UN's changing of the guard
    • 5
      USAID's humanitarian bureau is under pressure and overstretched
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement