90-Day U.S. Foreign Aid Freeze: “Ask Me Anything” With Unlock Aid’s Lawyers

Plus, information about potential financial resources and advocacy efforts to support our coalition

Dear Unlock Aid community,

This email contains important information regarding the U.S. foreign aid freeze and 90-day review, as well as resources to help your organization, including legal and financial tools. If you are a social innovator that has been impacted by the 90-day freeze, or a funder, please keep reading.

As you may have seen, the White House has reportedly withdrawn its order freezing U.S. federal grants, following a federal judge's injunction against the freeze yesterday. Last night, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio also issued a waiver for many life-saving humanitarian assistance programs. These developments show that advocacy can work.

We’re assessing how these recent decisions will specifically affect U.S. foreign assistance, which is subject to a separate executive order signed by President Trump on January 20, 2025, as well as subsequent stop-work orders issued by the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other U.S. foreign affairs agencies.

Here's what we're doing and how you can get involved:

1. Legal Support for Our Community

To help organizations in our community navigate this complex period, we're hosting an "Ask Me Anything" session tomorrow at 11AM ET with our legal partners from K&L Gates. They'll be available to address your questions about the implications of the U.S. foreign aid freeze, stop-work orders, the recent injunction, today’s White House decision, and steps that organizations in our community can take.

If you are part of Unlock Aid’s coalition, including funders and social innovators, you should have received a Zoom invitation to join this call. If you plan on joining the call and would like to ensure that your question will be addressed, please email us your question in advance at policy [at] unlockaid.org.

2. Emergency Bridge Funding

Understanding that many organizations face immediate financial pressures, we're coordinating with a consortium of funders big and small to establish bridge funding support for members of our community. This effort aims to ensure that vital programs can continue operations during this period of uncertainty.

• If you are part of our coalition and need emergency funding, please fill out this form, which we will share with prospective funders.

• If you are a funder and would like to participate in this effort, or connect with other funders who are, please contact us at policy [at] unlockaid.org or reply to this email.

3. Meeting with Key Lawmakers and Trump Administration Officials

We have started to meet with top lawmakers in the U.S. Congress, including those in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, to present a comprehensive list of programs that require immediate funding restoration. We will also be sharing this list with Trump Administration officials, including Secretary of State Rubio.

Last week, we asked our coalition to contact us to tell us how your work has been affected by the 90-day freeze on U.S. foreign aid. As a result of your input, the programs we are putting forward demonstrate clear connections to U.S. national and economic security, with proven track records of delivering measurable impact and results.

4. Shaping the 90-Day U.S. Foreign Aid Review

While our immediate priority is restoring funding for essential programs, this 90-day review of U.S. foreign aid programs also creates a unique window to reimagine and ultimately transform how the United States invests approximately $60 billion annually in global development, something our coalition has been trying to do since our founding in late-2021.

We've drafted recommendations for the new administration that outline criteria for evaluating programs during this review period, and we welcome your input. Please review our memo for the Trump Administration and share your feedback by writing to us at policy [at] unlockaid.org no later than January 31, 2025.

We'll continue to provide regular updates as more information is made available. These are challenging times, but this is also a moment to lean in and to shape a new future for U.S. global development.

To Progress,
Unlock Aid

P.S. If you are part of our coalition and did not receive an invitation to join the call with our lawyers tomorrow but would like to, please let us know by responding to this email.