United States issues broad freeze on foreign aid after Trump orders review

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The United States State Department provided a stop-work order on Friday for all existing foreign support and paused brand-new help,
according to a cable television seen by Reuters, after President Donald Trump bought a pause to review if aid allotment was aligned with his
foreign policy.The cable television, prepared by the Departments foreign assistance office and approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio,
said waivers have been provided for military funding for Israel and Egypt
No other nations were mentioned in the cable.The relocation threats cutting off billions of dollars of life-saving assistance
The United States is the biggest single donor of aid internationally - in 2023, it disbursed $72 billion in assistance.Just hours after
taking office on Monday, Trump bought a 90-day pause in foreign advancement assistance pending an evaluation of efficiencies and consistency
with his foreign policy but the scope of the order was not right away known.The State Department cable television stated effective
immediately, senior authorities will make sure that, to the maximum extent allowed by law, no new obligations will be produced foreign
support until Rubio has actually made a decision after a review.It says that for existing foreign help awards stop-work orders shall be
issued right away till examined by Rubio.This is lunacy, Jeremy Konyndyk, a previous USAID official who is now president of Refugees
International, stated
This will eliminate people
I imply, if executed as written in that cable television ..
a great deal of people will die.Theres no way to consider this as a good-faith attempt to truly examine the efficiency of foreign help
programs
This is just simply a trashing ball to break as much things as possible, Konyndyk said.Trumps order is illegal, argued a source familiar
conversations in Congress on the move.Freezing these international investments will lead our international partners to look for other
funding partners - most likely United States competitors and enemies - to fill this hole and displace the United States affect the longer
this unlawful impoundment continues, the source said on condition of anonymity.A USAID authorities, who requested privacy, stated officers
accountable for projects in Ukraine have actually been told to stop all work
Among the projects that have been frozen are support to schools and health assistance like emergency situation maternal care and childhood
vaccinations, the main said.Across the board, decisions whether to continue, modify, or terminate programs will be made by Rubio following a
review over the next 85 days
Up until then Rubio can approve waivers.Rubio has actually provided a waiver for emergency food help, according to the cable television
This comes amid a rise of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip after a ceasefire in between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas started
on Sunday and numerous other hunger crises around the world, including Sudan.But Konyndyk stated emergency food help was simply a minority
of all humanitarian help, including that nutrition, health and vaccination programs will need to stop, as would relief help to Gaza and
Syria along with services to refugee camps in Sudan.Its produced mayhem, stated a former senior official with the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), speaking on condition of anonymity.Organizations will need to stop all activities, so all lifesaving
health services, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, maternal and child health, all farming work, all assistance of civil society organizations, education,
said the official.The State Department cable television also said waivers have so far been authorized by Rubio for foreign military funding
for Israel and Egypt and administrative costs, consisting of incomes, required to administer foreign military financing.Israel gets about
$3.3 billion in foreign military financing each year, while Egypt receives about $1.3 billionOther states determined for such funding in
2025 consist of Ukraine, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Djibouti, Colombia,
Panama, Ecuador, Israel, Egypt and Jordan, according to a request to Congress from previous President Joe Bidens administration.That demand
also said foreign military funding would also look for to bolster the Lebanese Armed Forces ability to mitigate instability and counter
revile Iranian influence.The Lebanese military is presently attempting to deploy into the south of the country as Israeli soldiers withdraw
under a ceasefire offer that needs Iran-backed Hezbollah weapons and fighters to also be gotten rid of from the area.Source: Reuters--
Agencies