Watchdog warns Trump's gutting of USAID leaves $8.2b unspent aid with no oversight | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
June 12, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025
Watchdog warns Trump's gutting of USAID leaves $8.2b unspent aid with no oversight

USA

Reuters
11 February, 2025, 01:55 pm
Last modified: 11 February, 2025, 02:01 pm

Related News

  • US-China trade deal is 'done', Trump says
  • Trump wants to 'liberate' Los Angeles, residents say 'no thanks'
  • Trump to mark Army milestone as troops deployed to Los Angeles
  • Trump defends sending National Guard to LA as California governor to sue administration
  • Trump expected to speak with Israel's Netanyahu, White House officials say

Watchdog warns Trump's gutting of USAID leaves $8.2b unspent aid with no oversight

Hundreds of USAID programs covering billions of dollars of assistance across the globe came to a halt after Trump on 20 January ordered a freeze on most US foreign aid, saying he wanted to ensure it was aligned with his "America First" policy

Reuters
11 February, 2025, 01:55 pm
Last modified: 11 February, 2025, 02:01 pm
A worker looks out of the window of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) building, after billionaire Elon Musk, who is heading US President Donald Trump's drive to shrink the federal government, said work is underway to shut down the US foreign aid agency USAID, in Washington, US, 3 February 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo
A worker looks out of the window of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) building, after billionaire Elon Musk, who is heading US President Donald Trump's drive to shrink the federal government, said work is underway to shut down the US foreign aid agency USAID, in Washington, US, 3 February 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo

Highlights:

  • USAID staff cuts hamper oversight, OIG says
  • Uncertainty persists over scope of humanitarian waivers
  • OIG warns USAID unable to safeguard remaining aid

The Trump administration's move to gut the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has crippled the agency's ability to conduct any proper oversight of unspent aid worth $8.2 billion, an independent government watchdog said on Monday.

A report by the USAID Office of the Inspector-General also said that waivers issued by the State Department to make "life-saving humanitarian assistance" exempt from President Donald Trump's freeze on US foreign aid were hampered by sweeping staff cuts and uncertainty over what kind of aid is and is not permissible.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Hundreds of USAID programs covering billions of dollars of assistance across the globe came to a halt after Trump on 20 January ordered a freeze on most US foreign aid, saying he wanted to ensure it was aligned with his "America First" policy.

His administration has moved to dismantle USAID, which had more than 10,000 staff at home and overseas, and possibly merge it into the State Department. The agency's web site has been down for more than a week. But the report from the OIG, an independent oversight division of the agency, appeared on Monday on the OIG's website, which remains online.

OIG said its report was covering the risks around the agency's $8.2 billion of "obligated but undisbursed humanitarian assistance funds" since the administration's halt to aid and subsequent staff cuts, both of which it said had effectively crippled USAID's bureau of humanitarian affairs (BHA).

"Recent widespread staffing reductions across the Agency, particularly within BHA, coupled with uncertainty about the scope of foreign assistance waivers and permissible communications with implementers, has degraded USAID's ability to distribute and safeguard taxpayer-funded humanitarian assistance," the report said.

"Specifically, USAID's existing oversight controls—albeit with previously identified shortcomings—are now largely

nonoperational given these recent directives and personnel actions," it added.

USAID programs in certain countries require partner vetting and third-party monitoring to ensure that funds are delivered to those intended and do not go to "terrorists and their supporters", but oversight mechanisms were crippled by the staff cuts, the report said.

"This gap leaves USAID susceptible to inadvertently funding entities or salaries of individuals associated with US-designated terrorist organizations," it added.

Most of USAID's workforce was put on administrative leave last week, with the exception of around 600 people, according to a notice sent to staff last week and shared with Reuters by an administration official.

While US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued waivers for what he called "life-saving humanitarian assistance" to be exempt from the freeze, aid workers and UN staff said most of the programs remained shut.

The report also said "a lack of clarity about the scope of the humanitarian assistance waivers and the extent of permissible communications between BHA staff and its implementers" hampered USAID's capacity to disburse humanitarian assistance.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Top News / World+Biz

USAID / US President Donald Trump

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Keir Starmer declines to meet CA Yunus: FT report
    Keir Starmer declines to meet CA Yunus: FT report
  • Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. Photo: Collected
    UK crime agency now freezes assets of ex-land minister Saifuzzaman: AJ
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks at the Chatham House in London on 11 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    No desire to be part of next elected govt: CA Yunus

MOST VIEWED

  • File photo of ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy. Photo: Collected
    Joy spends Eid with Hasina in India: Indian media
  • Infofgraphics: TBS
    DGHS issues 11-point directive to prevent spread of Covid-19 in Bangladesh
  • Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. Photo: Collected
    UK crime agency now freezes assets of ex-land minister Saifuzzaman: AJ
  • File photo of BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury. Photo: Collected
    Khasru flies to London ahead of Yunus-Tarique meeting
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks at the Chatham House in London on 11 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    No desire to be part of next elected govt: CA Yunus
  • Illustration: Khandaker Abidur Rahman/TBS
    Three hospitals ‘held hostage’ as discharged July uprising injured keep occupying beds

Related News

  • US-China trade deal is 'done', Trump says
  • Trump wants to 'liberate' Los Angeles, residents say 'no thanks'
  • Trump to mark Army milestone as troops deployed to Los Angeles
  • Trump defends sending National Guard to LA as California governor to sue administration
  • Trump expected to speak with Israel's Netanyahu, White House officials say

Features

Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

13h | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

1d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

2d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

4d | Bangladesh

More Videos from TBS

Why is Omicron XBB more contagious?

Why is Omicron XBB more contagious?

10h | TBS Stories
What did Dr. Yunus say at the Chatham House Dialogue in London?

What did Dr. Yunus say at the Chatham House Dialogue in London?

11h | TBS Today
News of The Day, 11 JUNE 2025

News of The Day, 11 JUNE 2025

12h | TBS News of the day
WB predicts worst decade for global growth since 60s

WB predicts worst decade for global growth since 60s

13h | TBS Stories
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net