90 Days to Reshape U.S. Foreign Aid: Our Plan

President Trump's 90-day freeze on U.S. foreign aid creates huge risks and opportunities. Here's how we're responding to both.

Dear Unlock Aid community,

Last week, President Trump signed an executive order to freeze all U.S. foreign aid pending a 90-day review of all U.S.-funded programs. Subsequent to that, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) issued an immediate stop order for all activities funded via U.S. foreign aid. These actions create both serious risks and potential opportunities that demand our immediate attention. Read on to learn how we’re working with our community to restore funding for essential programs today, as well as to shape the 90-day review process to build a better system for tomorrow.

Restoring funding

First, let's be clear: Spending on global development is vital to American national and economic security. For instance, targeted economic development programs in Central America help reduce migration pressures at our southern border. Investments in global health surveillance and response capabilities protect Americans from infectious disease outbreaks and prevent disruptions to global supply chains that could shock our economy. At less than 1% of the federal budget, U.S. foreign assistance delivers an outsized return on investment for American taxpayers.

This week, we are preparing a detailed letter to the Trump Administration and Congress highlighting specific programs that:

• Demonstrate clear connections to U.S. national and economic security

• Deliver measurable, outsized returns on investment

• Should be allowed to continue operations immediately

If you manage a program meeting these criteria, please contact us immediately at policy [at] unlockaid.org to be included in this communication.

Shaping the 90-day review

At the same time, this 90-day review period 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.

Last year, we concluded a six-month listening tour, where we asked hundreds of communities in the United States and around the world, “If we could start over and redesign the U.S. approach to global development, what would we do differently?”

As the State Department, USAID, and other U.S. foreign affairs agencies begin this 90-day review period, we've drafted four foundational recommendations that, if enacted, would transform how the U.S. spends approximately $60B every year. The proposals contained within this memo draw significantly from the outputs of that six-month tour.

Specifically, the United States should:

1. Make investments (not aid) the predominant way the U.S. disburses long-term development assistance

2. Make technology and American innovation core to the United States’ value proposition, including by creating dedicated pathways for innovators to partner with U.S. foreign affairs agencies

3. Scale evidence-based solutions that demonstrate strong returns on investment while discontinuing ineffective programs

4. Break aid industry dependencies by shifting a greater share of funding to local groups that can manage long-term needs and capping what intermediary aid groups can collect

We need your input on these ideas. We are looking for specific, creative recommendations that can both bolster political support for U.S. global development spending, and that can also position the United States as a partner of first resort for any country or community that wants to build a better, more prosperous future.

Please review our draft memo and share your feedback by writing to us at policy [at] unlockaid.org by Friday, January, 31st. We’ll be sending this memo to recently-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio and to our allies in the U.S. Congress next week.

The stakes are high. While funding for essential programs must continue, this 90-day window could also be a transformational moment to shape for the better the future of U.S. global development spending.

To Progress,
Unlock Aid

P.S. You can read our full memo to Secretary Rubio here. We welcome your thoughts on how to strengthen these recommendations. Please contact us at policy [at] unlockaid.org no later than January 31, 2025.