US aid to Egypt is seen as necessary to maintain the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
The US provides more foreign aid globally than any other country, budgeting about $60 billion in 2023, or about 1% of the U.S. budget.
The cable spells out the execution of the aid-freezing executive order President Donald Trump signed on Monday.
A globally acclaimed anti-HIV program, the President’s Emergency Relief Plan for AIDS Relief, was among those included in the spending freeze, slated to last at least three months. Known as PEPFAR, the program is credited with saving 25 million lives, including those of 5.5 million children, since it was started by Republican President George W. Bush.
Some leading aid organizations also were interpreting the directive as an immediate stop-work order for US-funded aid work globally, a former senior US Agency for International Development official said. Many would likely cease operations immediately so as not to incur more costs, the official said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“By suspending foreign development assistance, the Trump administration is threatening the lives and futures of communities in crisis, and abandoning the United States’ long-held bipartisan approach to foreign assistance which supports people based on need, regardless of politics,” Maxman said in a statement.
While Rubio’s order exempted military assistance to allies Israel and Egypt from the freeze, there was no indication of a similar waiver to allow vital U.S. military assistance to Ukraine through.
The sweeping freeze begins enforcement of a pledge from Trump and other Republicans to crack down on US aid programs.
Florida Republican congressman Brian Mast, the new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, promised this week that Republicans would question “every dollar and every diplomat” in the State Department’s budget to ensure it met their standards for strictly necessary.
Within the next month, standards for a review of all foreign assistance are expected to be set to ensure that it is “aligned with President Trump’s foreign policy agenda,” the cable said. And within three months, the government-wide review is expected to be completed with a subsequent report to be produced for Rubio to make recommendations to the president.
The programs offer possible entry for a large number of immigrants from an array of countries, including war-torn Ukraine and others dealing with political upheaval or extreme poverty.
With wires
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