\n<\/p>\n
Treating H.I.V. across dozens of nations. Stopping the forced labor of Chinese workers. Training Mexican and Colombian police in anti-narcotics enforcement.<\/p>\n
Those are just a tiny sample of aid programs around the world operating with grant money from the U.S. government that could be permanently shut down under an executive order<\/a> President Trump signed last week to halt foreign aid.<\/p>\n The sense of crisis among aid groups worldwide is surging, as American officials tell groups they must obey an almost universal stop-work order issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio after Mr. Trump\u2019s directive.<\/p>\n The officials say the groups must freeze nearly all programs that have received any of the $70 billion<\/a> of annual aid budget approved by Congress through bipartisan negotiations. They include programs that provide medicine, shelter and clean water in dire conditions and often make the difference between life and death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Uncertain of whether they can pay salaries or get any future funding, groups around the world said they are starting to lay off employees or furlough them. In the United States alone, tens of thousands of employees, many of whom live in the Washington area and rely on contract work with U.S. agencies, could lose their jobs. Some have already been laid off.<\/p>\n Leaders of aid groups say they have never seen such an expansive and damaging directive, even during periods of aid reassessment by earlier administrations. Many of them are scrambling to contact lawmakers and other U.S. officials to get urgent messages to Mr. Rubio. They said some programs will be hard to restart after a temporary shutdown, and many could disappear.<\/p>\n The State Department said the move was aimed at ensuring that all foreign aid programs \u201care efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The crisis deepened on Monday evening, when Jason Gray, the acting head of the United States Agency for International Development, put about 60 top officials on paid leave<\/a>. He wrote in an email that those officials had taken actions \u201cdesigned to circumvent the president\u2019s executive orders.\u201d On Tuesday, office workers removed photographs of leaders from the walls. Hundreds of contractors have also been fired or put on leave.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Rubio said in a cable to U.S. missions abroad that the halt would last at least through a 90-day assessment period. But U.S. officials have already told some aid groups that certain programs, including ones that promote diversity, women\u2019s reproductive rights and climate resilience, will be permanently cut.<\/p>\n U.S. agencies will need to break contracts during the halt, and they will likely need to pay fees. Among the U.S.A.I.D. employees put on paid leave are three lawyers, including the lead ethics lawyer, according to one person briefed on the situation.<\/p>\n The executive order halting foreign aid was the president\u2019s first major foreign policy action, and many aid groups are only now understanding its broad scope. Foreign assistance money generally supports humanitarian, development and security programs, and it makes up less than 1 percent of the government budget.<\/p>\n Two Democratic members of the House, Gregory Meeks of New York and Lois Frankel of Florida, sent Mr. Rubio a letter on Saturday saying that lives were being \u201cplaced at risk\u201d because of the aid halt. \u201cCongress has appropriated and cleared these funds for use, and it is our constitutional duty to make sure these funds are spent as directed,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n The stop order applies to most military and security assistance programs, including in Ukraine, Taiwan and Jordan. Much of that aid is disbursed by the State Department. Military aid to Israel and Egypt is exempted, as is emergency food assistance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Trump\u2019s decision to halt foreign aid could cause long-term damage to U.S. strategic interests, critics of the action say. Policymakers from both parties have long regarded foreign aid as a potent form of American power, a way to increase <\/span>U.S. influence overseas using a tiny budget compared with military spending. Many development programs support democracy, education and civil rights efforts.<\/p>\n In recent years, China has tried to win more global influence with development projects, and it could gain ground as the United States retreats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis 90-day stop-work is a gift to our enemies and competitors \u2014 with effects that go beyond the immediate harms to people,\u201d said Dr. Atul Gawande, the assistant administrator for global health at U.S.A.I.D. in the Biden administration.<\/p>\n \u201cIt trashes our alliances with scores of countries built over half a century, trashes our world-leading expertise and capacity and threatens our security,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Dr. Gawande noted that U.S.A.I.D. has the largest footprint abroad after the military, employing hundreds of thousands of contractors, who will now be dismissed or put on leave.<\/p>\n Some former officials say a goal of the action could be to dismantle U.S.A.I.D. and move its work to the State Department \u2014 while keeping the total aid amount paltry. The Trump appointee at the State Department overseeing foreign aid is Pete Marocco<\/a>, a divisive figure<\/a> <\/span>in the first Trump administration who worked at the Pentagon, State Department and U.S.A.I.D. At the aid agency, employees filed a 13-page dissent memo<\/a>, accusing him of mismanagement. Senior State Department officials can exercise authority over U.S.A.I.D., though the agency usually operates autonomously.<\/p>\n Some of U.S.A.I.D.\u2019s critical work is listed on its website. One document<\/a> says that during the civil war in Sudan, a United Nations agency relied on U.S. government support to screen about 5.1 million children age 5 and under for malnutrition, and it provided about 288,000 children with lifesaving treatment last year between January and October.<\/p>\n Smaller groups will struggle to survive. China Labor Watch<\/a>, a New York-based group with overseas offices that aims to end forced labor and trafficking of Chinese workers, is shutting down programs that rely on $900,000 of annual aid from the State Department, said Li Qiang, the organization\u2019s founder. Seven staff employees will be placed on unpaid leave and could depart for good, Mr. Li said, adding that employees who lose their work visas might have to return to China, where they could be scrutinized by security officers.<\/p>\n Groups worldwide that have relied on U.S. funding are now \u201cvictims of this disruption, leading to distrust in the U.S. government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n He continued: \u201cThis will further isolate the U.S. internationally. Damaging national credibility and alienating allies for short-term gains will have lasting repercussions.\u201d<\/p>\n The clampdown also cripples<\/a> the President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, the celebrated program started by President George W. Bush that is credited with saving more than 25 million lives. A shutdown of the program would likely cost millions of lives in the coming years, health experts said. The program\u2019s work involves more than 250,000 health workers in 54 countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWhen the funding stops before the epidemic is under control, you erode the investments you\u2019ve made in the past,\u201d said Dr. Linda-Gail Bekker, who heads the Desmond Tutu H.I.V. Center at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.<\/p>\n Simultaneously, Mr. Trump\u2019s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization has prompted that group to tighten its belt, curtailing travel and limiting operations on the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On Sunday night, employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were instructed to immediately stop communicating with W.H.O. staff. and other international partners.<\/p>\n The blackout means American officials are likely to lose access to information about human outbreaks, including of mpox, polio and the emerging mosquito-borne disease Oropouche, and animal diseases, like swine flu, that could devastate the nation\u2019s agricultural industry, Dr. Gawande said.<\/p>\n U.S.A.I.D. has helped to contain 11 serious outbreaks of Ebola and other hemorrhagic fevers in the last four years. One such disease, Marburg, is smoldering even now in Tanzania, with 15 confirmed cases and eight probable cases. Ten people have died.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a disease with no test, no treatment and no vaccine that\u2019s been approved,\u201d Dr. Gawande said.<\/p>\n