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       WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has cancelled more than 80 per cent of all the programmes at US Agency for International Development following a six-week review, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.

       “The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States,” Rubio said in an X post that he sent from his personal account. He then pinned it on his timeline.

       The remaining approximately 1,000 programmes, he said, would now be administered “more effectively” under the State Department and in consultation with Congress. US President Donald Trump returned to office on Jan 20 and immediately ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid pending a review of whether the programmes align with his “America First” foreign policy.

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       The order, and ensuing stop work orders, threw USAID into turmoil, halting the agency’s operations around the world , jeopardising the delivery of life-saving food and medical aid and throwing global humanitarian relief efforts into chaos. The administration said it provided waivers for life-saving aid, but humanitarian workers around the world said the funding remained shut .

       Thousands of staff were put on leave or fired and contractors terminated. The majority of those put on leave are not expected to be reinstated.

       The top US diplomat also thanked the staffers of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Elon Musk, who has been conducting an unprecedented scaling down of the US federal government. “Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform,” Rubio said.

       Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2025