USAID issues blanket stop-work order, promising ‘equitable adjustments’

USAID has issued a blanket stop-work order to all its implementing partners — one that states organizations must “take immediate action” to pause implementation of USAID-funded activities, and immediately acknowledge they’ve done so with their contracting officers at USAID. The notice flips how stop-work orders have been handled since last Friday. Previously, contracting officers alerted implementing partners on a case-by-case basis if they needed to halt their work. Now, implementing partners are required to independently pause all USAID-funded activities and report back to the agency. The notice came after USAID slashed hundreds of staff positions, from those at the senior executive level to institutional support contractors at the bureaus of global health and humanitarian assistance. “Subject to individual award terms, this notice applies to all awards — e.g., contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and other funding mechanisms — and funding at every tier, unless an implementing partner has received formal notification from their cognizant CO/AO that their award is covered, in whole or in part, by a current waiver,” wrote Jami Rodgers, the agency’s senior procurement executive, in Tuesday’s letter. Rodgers added that prime contractors and recipients are also responsible for ensuring their subcontractors comply with the notice, though implementing partners should still “expect to receive formal notifications and instructions from their [contracting and agreement officers] imminently.” Prospective implementing partners, Rodgers said, should expect all solicitations and notices of funding opportunities to “stop immediately,” with USAID staff providing updates on whether an upcoming award will proceed, be modified, or be canceled. USAID will also negotiate “equitable adjustments” due to the stop-work order, the letter said, noting its impact on “programming, our implementing partners at every tier, and the communities served by foreign-assistance funding activities.” “To that end, our focus is on ensuring that the funding pause and subsequent reviews are implemented efficiently to ensure full compliance with Presidential direction and policy, and so approved programming can resume as appropriate,” Rodgers stated.