The United States will soon be changing the way it gives out grants, the result of federal budget guideline revisions that will affect every government entity — including the U.S. Agency for International Development — later this year.
It’s the result of a two-year process led by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, which aimed to reduce the administrative burdens on the government’s new, smaller partners. It’s something USAID has been pushing for, especially amid the agency’s efforts to shift more money toward local organizations.
But with USAID in the middle of a years-long staffing crisis, it won’t necessarily find it easy to adapt to the new way of doing things — a fact highlighted by Jami Rodgers, the director of USAID’s Office of Acquisitions and Assistance, at the agency’s latest business forecast update, at the end of last month.