USAID Freeze Timeline

January 20th: President Trump signs an executive order freezing all US foreign aid for 90 days pending review and another withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
January 24th: The State Department puts out a cable pausing all new foreign aid spending and issuing a stop-work order for all existing US-funded projects, with some exceptions for emergency food assistance and foreign military financing for Israel and Egypt.
January 27th: Several dozen senior USAID officials are put on administrative leave after they are accused of attempting to circumvent the executive order.
January 28th: The State Department issues temporary waivers for “life-saving humanitarian assistance,” allowing those programs to continue operating despite the stop-work order. However, many programs remained paused due to confusion, chaos, and uncertainty.
February 1st: USAID website goes offline. A page appears on the State Department website, suggesting that the agency’s functions were being brought under the purview of the State Department.
February 3rd: Elon Musk says in a livestream on X (Twitter) that President Trump has agreed that USAID should be “shut down.”
February 3rd: Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells reporters he is acting administrator of USAID, the day-to-day business of which would be handled by Pete Marocco, the department’s director of foreign assistance.
- Mr. Rubio said that Mr. Marocco would “begin the review and potential reorganization of U.S.A.I.D.’s activities to maximize efficiency and align operations with the national interest.”
February 3rd: Congressional Democrats attend a protest outside of the USAID headquarters in Washington, DC, and call the moves to shut it down unconstitutional.
February 4th: A statement is posted on USAID’s website announcing that, just before midnight on February 7th, all USAID workers would be put on paid leave and those stationed abroad would be brought back to the US within 30 days.
February 6th: Reporting suggests that USAID’s more than 10,000 staff will be reduced to less than 300. Two unions representing USAID employees filed lawsuits against the Trump administration.
February 7th: President Trump directly calls for the shutdown of USAID in a Truth Social post.
February 8th: A judge issues a pause on administrative leave for 2,200 USAID employees and the recall of those abroad and ordered the reinstatement of 500 already on leave.
February 13th: A federal judge orders the Trump administration to temporarily lift the foreign aid funding freeze.
February 19th: President Trump issues an executive order eliminating the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), the US African Development Foundation (USADF), and the US Institute of Peace (USIP).
February 21st: A federal judge allows the Trump Administration’s plan to bring home overseas workers and put thousands on leave to proceed.
February 23rd: USAID staff begin receiving termination letters, saying they have until April 24th to wrap up their work.
February 25th: A federal judge orders the Trump Administration to release billions in foreign aid, two weeks after the initial order was issued, giving them until midnight the next day to do so.
February 25th: USAID staff receive a second round of letters terminating them immediately.
February 26th: An internal memo says that the Trump Administration plans to cut 90% of USAID’s contracts abroad.
February 26th: The Supreme Court grants the Trump Administration an administrative stay while they review the case against the funding freeze, canceling the midnight deadline and allowing the funding freeze to continue temporarily.
March 3rd: In a court filing, the Trump Administration claims that the federal funding freeze is over and the review of projects complete.
March 5th: The Supreme Court rules against the Trump Administration, agreeing with the lower court’s ruling that foreign aid must be unfrozen and released.
March 6th: USAID programs receive a survey asking them to detail the purpose and value of their project to “support the next stage of the administration’s foreign assistance review.” Some of the projects asked to complete the survey no longer have staff to do so, having already laid them off.
March 6th: A judge bars the Trump Administration from shutting down the US African Development Foundation.
March 6th: A federal judge gives the Administration a deadline of March 10th to pay USAID’s outstanding debts to its partners.
March 7th: The Inter-American Foundation’s website and systems are shuttered.
March 10th: Secretary Rubio announces that 5,200 of USAID’s programs (83%) have been terminated, and the rest have been moved under the purview of the State Department.
March 10th: A federal judge again orders that the Trump Administration has to pay for all work completed by USAID contractors and grantees before February 13th.
March 11th: The acting executive secretary of USAID sends an email ordering USAID employees to empty out classified safes and personnel files and shred or burn the documents inside.
March 14th: In two different cases, federal judges choose not to intervene to halt the destruction of USAID documents.
March 17th: DOGE takes over the US Institute of Peace, reportedly breaking into the building itself and firing the acting President & CEO.
March 18th: A federal judge finds that Elon Musk and his team’s actions in shutting down USAID likely violated the constitution by circumventing Congress. The judge ordered that the agency’s functions be partially restored.
March 18th: Jeremy Lewin and Kenneth Jackson, two individuals involved in the dismantling of USAID, are named its leaders.
March 18th: Staff of the US African Development Foundation (USADF) start to be put on leave.
March 19th: A federal judge allows DOGE to remain in control of the US Institute of Peace.
March 20th: A leaked memo lays out a blueprint for the Trump Administration’s vision for the future of US foreign aid, including the renaming of USAID to US Agency for International Humanitarian Assistance.
March 24th: USAID sends a memo to congress detailing what remains of the agency’s staff and programs: only 869 of more than 6,000 staff on active duty and less than 900 of over 6,000 programs allowed to continue operations.
March 25th: PEPFAR, the US’s HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment program, expires without being reauthorized. It still has appropriated funds to use through September 1st, so it can technically continue operating, unless its budget is cut between now and September.
March 28th: A federal appeals court rules that DOGE may continue its work dismantling USAID while the court considers the case on an earlier ruling.
March 28th: An email to USAID staff announces that the agency will be moved fully under the State Department and its staff will be reduced to just 15 legally mandated positions by September 2nd.
March 28th: In a congressional notification, the Trump Administration announces is intent to introduce legislation to legally abolish USAID as an independent entity as part of the budget request for FY26.
April 3rd: All but 5 employees of the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan foreign policy think tank that was created by Congress, are put on leave.
April 7th: A federal judge temporarily blocks the Trump Administration’s dismantling of the Inter-American Foundation.
April 9th: Reports show that the Trump Administration is rapidly changing which projects it will continue to fund and which it is canceling, leading to widespread confusion. The administration admitted that some of the cuts made were mistakes.
April 9th: USAID’s foreign service officers are ordered to return to the US by August 15th.
April 11th: USADF’s staff and programs continue to be fired and canceled despite ongoing court cases.
April 14th: Pete Morocco, one of the architects of USAID’s dismantling and acting head of foreign aid at the State Department, abruptly leaves the Department and is expected to take another job in the administration.
April 14th: An internal memo details a plan to cut the State Department’s budget in half in the next fiscal year by ending almost all US support for the UN and NATO and curtailing programs like Fulbright.
April 16th: DOGE-affiliated Jeremy Lewin takes over as head of the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance.
April 17th: The 90-review of foreign assistance is extended for an additional 30 days. The 90 days, which was announced the day President Trump took office, would have officially expired on April 20th, but Secretary Rubio announced in late March that the review had been completed.
April 22nd: Secretary Rubio announces a plan to restructure the State Department, including significant cuts and the elimination of 18% of the department’s bureaus and offices.
April 23rd: Employees of the Millennium Challenge Corporation receive emails indicating the agency is the latest target of DOGE cuts and will soon be dismantled.
April 30th: A congressional hearing is held on the State Department reorganization.
May 2nd: The Trump administration releases its proposed budget for FY26, including an 84% cut of the foreign aid budget from FY25.