The end in history: the U.S. spent $335 billion on USAID over nine years

U.S. federal budget expenditures on USAID programs from fiscal year 2016 to 2024 amounted to almost $335 billion, Izvestia has calculated. This amount takes about 5% of all state budget expenditures in 2024. Donald Trump's administration began a large-scale reorganization of the agency, freezing aid to foreign countries and putting employees on administrative leave. Where exactly USAID funds went, how the agency distinguished itself in Russia and what awaits the main tool of the US "soft power" - in Izvestia's article.

How much the United States spends on USAID

The total expenditures of the United States budget on the activities of the Agency for International Development (USAID) for nine years amounted to $335 billion, summarized Izvestia, having analyzed the official data of the agency for the period of Donald Trump's and Joe Biden's presidency; for comparison, the calculation also included spending in the last presidential year of Barack Obama. That confirmed it: Democrats are more active in funding USAID projects than Republicans. Under Obama, $50.3 billion was allocated in 2016; under Biden, between $37.4 billion and $50 billion each year; under Trump, just $25.5 billion to $26.7 billion.

The agency was founded in 1961 during the John F. Kennedy administration. It united several pre-existing organizations, which acted on the basis of the Marshall Plan, designed to participate in the reconstruction of post-war Europe in 1948-1951. Formally, USAID is considered an independent government agency, but it reports to the president and the U.S. National Security Council. The leadership of the agency - the administrator and his deputy - is appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate.

The budgets of the agency's programs are approved by the U.S. Congress on the basis of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. About 1% of the country's federal budget is allocated annually to fund the programs. In USAID's financial plan for 2023, 53% of spending was allocated to economic programs, 24% to humanitarian assistance, and 8% to health initiatives. About 5% of spending was earmarked for democracy development and human rights protection, while the rest went to projects in education, social protection and security.

Aid is distributed through fund-operators, which hold competitions for funding. The main among them is the National Endowment for Democracy (recognized as undesirable in the Russian Federation). This fact was the reason for criticism from the White House, which pointed to the huge expenditures on "ridiculous" projects during the past administration. Among the examples: $1.5 million was allocated to promote "equality and inclusion" in the work teams of Serbia, $47 thousand went to a "transgender opera" in Colombia.

After taking office as US President, Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending foreign aid programs for 90 days. The document states that "the U.S. foreign aid bureaucracy is inconsistent with American interests and in many cases contrary to American values." As then explained White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt, the States suspended funding for aid programs because Biden's team spent the budget "like drunken sailors." On February 5, it became known that the U.S. would review its membership in UNESCO.

How USAID operated in Russia

The agency worked in Russia for 20 years - from 1992 to 2012. It cooperated with both government authorities and non-governmental organizations. During this period, according to public data, USAID spent $2.7 billion to fund 57 Russian organizations. Of that, about 60% was spent on democracy development and human rights protection, with the remainder going to programs to combat HIV and tuberculosis, to protect mothers and children, and to support people with disabilities.

The peak of cooperation was in the 1990s, and then the aid programs were gradually phased out bilaterally, said Andrei Kortunov, an expert of the Valdai International Club, in a conversation with Izvestia.

- There were many claims from the Russian side that USAID was imposing its standards and rules. The U.S. side responded that its Russian partners did not fully follow USAID recommendations," he said.

In September 2012, USAID announced that it would cease its activities in Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted at the time that the agency was trying to influence political processes, including elections at various levels through the distribution of grants. USAID's activities in Russian regions, especially in the North Caucasus, also raised serious questions. This was preceded by an attempt to support the protests that took place in Russia after the December 2011 parliamentary elections.

After the termination of its activities in Russia, the agency increased its activity in other post-Soviet countries. In particular, until 2022, Ukraine was not even among the top 20 recipients of U.S. foreign aid. Over the past three years, Kiev has received $35 billion from USAID alone, and the agency has helped Kiev gain access to frozen Russian assets and keep records of weapons received from Washington. Moreover, no less than 80% of Ukrainian media existed at the expense of grants from the organization.

Georgia was also not left without USAID's obsessive attention, and the United States allocated $6.3 million to "support the electoral process" in Georgia in 2024. Recall that after the parliamentary elections in October, protests began in the country, and even before the vote there were riots against the adoption of the law on foreign agents.

What Trump will propose instead of USAID

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom Trump appointed as acting USAID administrator on February 3, issued an order to stop providing assistance through the agencies he heads. Under public pressure, the State Department partially made concessions, continuing to fund humanitarian programs that "save lives." At the same time, Marco Rubio emphasized that the exception does not apply to projects to fund abortion, gender studies, inclusion and diversity.

It is worth noting that the US is the largest donor of humanitarian aid in the world. Last year, Washington accounted for more than 47% of the funds allocated to such projects. The total contribution of such countries as Germany, Japan and the UK is significantly inferior to the amount of US funding. Therefore, the termination of USAID's work will seriously hit the poorest countries. For example, projects to fight malaria and HIV in 24 African nations could be shut down, or medical aid could be cut off in Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries.

The Trump administration is determined to reformat the agency. Nearly all 10,000 employees will be placed on administrative leave starting Feb. 7, and 60 USAID overseas missions are already closing. Employees of the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Ilon Musk, have gained access to classified documents of the agency. Thus, the White House is eliminating the autonomy of USAID, which has actually become an alternative ministry of foreign affairs with a solid budget, said Mikhail Mironyuk, associate professor at the Department of Politics and Management at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

- I would bet that USAID will restart after the purges and restructuring. Or, at worst, become a structural part of the State Department," the expert believes.

USAID has become a testing ground for the reform of state administration, which is promoted by the Trump administration. First, the White House put the agency under control by changing its leadership and limiting its funding. Now USAID is likely to face significant staff and budget cuts, as well as the loss of autonomy. If the White House can successfully reformat USAID, similar practices will spread to other agencies. The next possible target is the U.S. Department of Education, whose activities Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized.