Report: Nearly $500 Million In Food Could Go To Waste After USAID Pause
Monday's report from USAID's inspector general says the food remains "at ports, in transit, and in warehouses at risk of spoilage, unanticipated storage needs, and diversion." The Trump administration fired the inspector general Tuesday. Also: a Republican effort to try to save USAID, what a U.S. exit from the World Health Organization would mean for smallpox defenses, and more.
CBS News:
Almost $500 Million In Food Is At Risk Of Spoilage After USAID Pause, Report Says
Almost $500 million in food aid is at risk of spoilage as it sits in ports, ships and warehouses after funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, was paused by the Trump administration, according to a Feb. 10 report from a government watchdog. The report from USAID's inspector general highlighted the risks of "safeguarding and distribution" of $8.2 billion in unspent humanitarian aid after the Trump administration ordered almost all staff to be placed on leave and ordered a review of U.S. foreign assistance programs. (Picchi, 2/11)
Politico:
Trump Fires USAID’s Inspector General After Report Critical Of Funding Freeze
The Trump administration fired the inspector general of the U.S. Agency for International Development on Tuesday — a day after he put out a report criticizing the foreign aid freeze, a USAID official and a former State Department official said. Paul Martin is the latest of some 20 inspectors general that President Donald Trump has ousted, despite objections from lawmakers and the watchdogs themselves that his methods of removing them violate statutes. (Toosi, 2/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
Republicans Try To Save USAID Food Program
One of the first efforts to restore a program run by the U.S. Agency for International Development has begun—and it is coming from Republicans. Congressional Republicans from farm states are trying to save a $1.8 billion U.S. food-aid program that purchases U.S.-grown food and is administered by USAID, which has been largely closed by the Trump administration in recent weeks. (Peterson, 2/11)
The New York Times:
Foreign Aid Contractors Sue To Overturn Trump Administration’s USAID Order
A group of nongovernmental organizations, contractors and small businesses that rely on American foreign aid to carry out humanitarian and development programs abroad filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday against the Trump administration and its efforts to phase out the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Demirjian, 2/11)
Bloomberg:
Uganda Seeks $82 Million AIDS Funding To Bridge US Support Cut
Uganda’s flagship agencies for its HIV/AIDS initiatives need 300 billion shillings ($82 million) in extra funding to narrow a gap created after the US froze foreign assistance. Uganda AIDS Commission and AHF Uganda Cares require the funds to ensure uninterrupted access to treatment, laboratory monitoring and essential services in managing the virus, the Kampala-based parliament said, citing UAC Planning Director Vincent Bagambe. (Ojambo, 2/12)
On the withdrawal from WHO —
The New York Times:
Trump’s W.H.O. Exit Throws Smallpox Defenses Into Upheaval
President Trump’s order that the United States exit the World Health Organization could undo programs meant to ensure the safety, security and study of a deadly virus that once took half a billion lives, experts warn. His retreat, they add, could end decades in which the agency directed the management of smallpox virus remnants in an American-held cache. Health experts say discontinuation of the W.H.O.’s oversight threatens to damage precautions against the virus leaking into the world, and to disrupt research on countermeasures against the lethal disease. (Broad, 2/12)
