Posted March 13, 2025 | by KimS | in 2025 Trump Administration, DemDaily, International, Labor

DemDaily: Dismantling Democracy

March 13, 2025

While "Dismantling Democracy" could apply to the entirety of President Donald Trump's actions since taking office just over seven weeks ago, the early destruction of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been the most immediately and globally catastrophic.

The Trump administration’s decision to eliminate more than 90% of foreign aid contracts and cut some $60 billion in funding has been felt across the world -- myriad aid programs have been shuttered, leaving millions of people without access to life-saving care previously administered by USAID.

Established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, USAID is an independent agency of the US government, responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. It implements programs in global health, disaster relief, socioeconomic development, environmental protection, democratic governance and education. It is the world's largest aid agency with missions in over 100 countries, primarily in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.

Established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, USAID is an independent agency of the US government, responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. It implements programs in global health, disaster relief, socioeconomic development, environmental protection, democratic governance and education. It is the world's largest aid agency with missions in over 100 countries, primarily in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.

Dismantling USAID: The Timeline
January
January 20: Inauguration Day. President Donald Trump signs Executive Order 14169, titled "Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid," which called for a 90-day suspension of all US foreign development assistance programs to conduct a comprehensive review.

January 24: Trump orders a near-total stop work order on all foreign aid, initiating the process of shutting down USAID, led by Elon Musk, head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The sudden nature of this stop-work order resulted in widespread job losses across 46 states and the District of Columbia, affecting thousands of American workers and disrupting critical aid efforts globally.

January 27: Trump administration places over 60 senior USAID officials on administrative leave in response to actions within the agency "that appear to be designed to circumvent” or resist Trump's executive order as carried out by

January 28: Secretary of State Marco Rubio announces the department will grant a waiver for life-saving humanitarian assistance during the 90-day review period.

US District Judge Loren AliKhan blocked the funding freeze pending a court hearing February 4.

February
February 1: USAID's official government website goes dark.

February 3: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is appointed Acting Administrator of USAID and announces that the agency will be merged into the State Department.

February 4: The administration orders USAID to pull non-essential workers out of the field worldwide within 30 days, effective February 7. USAID’s DC headquarters is closed to agency personnel.

Musk labels USAID a "criminal organization" that was "beyond repair." and it is “time for it to die."

February 6: At 11:59 pm EST, all USAID direct-hire personnel are placed on administrative leave globally, except for "a small subset" of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership, and specially designated programs. Reports indicate that only 290 out of over 10,000 employees will be retained.

February 7: US District Judge Carl Nichols issues a "temporary restraining order" (TRO), halting the layoffs and ruling that some of the agency employees on leave must be reinstated.

February 10: The Trump administration strips USAID of the lease for its headquarters, initiating the agency's eviction.

Aid recipients, nonprofits, global organizations, including the American Bar Association, file two lawsuits to challenge the aid freeze.

February 11: USAID Inspector General Paul Martin is terminated from his position.

February 12: Agency employees say that lifesaving aid remains halted despite Rubio's waiver.

February 13: US District Judge Amir Ali issues a TRO prohibiting Trump officials from ending or pausing payments for contracts in place before January 20, 2024, and to pay $2 billion in funds owed to aid agencies.

February 19: Aid groups report that the administration is not abiding by Judge Ali's order and file an emergency enforcement motion.

February 21: Judge Nichols rules the Trump administration can proceed with plans for massive layoffs, finding the group that brought the lawsuit -- an association representing foreign service workers -- had not demonstrated that its members face irreparable injury so far.

February 23: Under the direction of State Department political appointee Pete Marocco, who is working closely with Elon Musk to dismantle the agency, 2,000 more workers are fired and thousands of foreign service officers and other direct hires around the world are put on paid leave -- effectively immediately.

February 25: In response to the administration's failure to enforce his February 13 ruling, Judge Ali orders the government to pay nearly $2 billion in already completed aid work by midnight the next day. The administration appeals to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS).

February 26: Chief Justice John Roberts issues an “administrative stay” on the lower judge's order and requests aid groups that sued the administration respond by 12noon on February 28.

The Trump administration announces the termination of 92% of USAID foreign aid grants and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance worldwide.

March 2: USAID Acting Assistant Administrator for Global Health Nicholas Enrich is placed on leave after writing a February 28 memo warning, "USAID's failure to implement lifesaving humanitarian assistance under the (Rubio) waiver is the result of political leadership at USAID, the Department of State, and D.O.G.E., who have created and continue to create intentional and/or unintentional obstacles that have wholly prevented implementation of aid programs."

March 4: A second Enrich memo is released: "Risks to U.S. National Security and Public Health", detailing the enormous "human suffering" and "increased death and disability" caused by the cuts to foreign aid. Among them: "Up to 18 million additional cases of malaria per year, and as many as 166,000 additional deaths; 200,000 children paralyzed with polio annually, and hundreds of millions of infections; one million children not treated for severe acute malnutrition, which is often fatal, each year; more than 28,000 new cases of such infectious diseases as Ebola and Marburg every year."

March 4: A second Enrich memo is released: "Risks to U.S. National Security and Public Health", detailing the enormous "human suffering" and "increased death and disability" caused by the cuts to foreign aid. Among them: "Up to 18 million additional cases of malaria per year, and as many as 166,000 additional deaths; 200,000 children paralyzed with polio annually, and hundreds of millions of infections; one million children not treated for severe acute malnutrition, which is often fatal, each year; more than 28,000 new cases of such infectious diseases as Ebola and Marburg every year."

March 5: In 5-4 decision. SCOTUS upholds Judge Ali's ruling ordering the administration to compensate USAID contractors and grant recipients for their past work.

March 10: Following a six-week review, Rubio announces the cancellation of over 80% of USAID programs. Approximately 5,200 contracts deemed ineffective or harmful to US national interests are terminated, with the remaining programs to be managed by the State Department.

Judge Ali rules that Donald Trump overstepped his constitutional authority in freezing almost all funding on US humanitarian and development work abroad, saying the roughly $60 billion in foreign assistance funding was given to USAID and the State Department by Congress -- which has the constitutional authority to spend the money.

Ali, however, declines legal appeals from nonprofit groups, unions and businesses to revive the canceled contracts, saying it was up to the administration to make decisions on specific contracts.

Ali orders Trump officials to pay all of the roughly $2 billion it owed to aid groups and businesses up to mid-February. Despite claims from the administration that it continues to fund at least life-saving programs during the freeze, all payments through USAID were cut off until recently, as the agency's payment system itself was disabled by Musk's DOGE.

March 11: USAID Acting Executive Director Erica Carr instructs remaining staff to shred or burn documents, including sensitive materials stored in classified safes and personnel records. Government employee unions file suit, alleging violations of federal record-keeping laws.