USAID Officially Closes, Attracting Condemnation from Obama and Bush
On July 1, 2025, USAID formally closed as an independent agency after six decades of global aid and development. Its functions are being absorbed into the State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio, shifting to an “America First” model that emphasizes trade and investment over traditional foreign aid. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, alongside musician Bono, joined a private video farewell for USAID staff, denouncing the closure as a “colossal mistake” and a “travesty,” warning that the cuts could result in millions of preventable deaths . Scale & Humanitarian Impact The agency was stripped of 90% of its staff, from over 10,000 to just under 300, with 83% of its programs canceled. Health initiatives like PEPFAR and malaria control, credited with saving tens of millions of lives, remain under threat—experts project up to 14 million additional deaths by 2030 […]