The State Department confirmed Thursday that it plans to eliminate more than 90% of USAID contracts worldwide while claiming that crucial food and health programs will remain intact. However, some organizations say that isn’t the case.
The department argues that the cuts will free up $58.2 billion in unspent funds from multi-year contracts, but it has provided no documentation to verify these claims. There is also no clear evidence that the programs it says are being spared will actually receive continued funding.
USAID distributed nearly $9 billion in public health aid in 2024, covering food assistance and treatment for diseases like HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis. But Lucica Ditiu, executive director of the Stop TB Partnership, disputes the department’s claims, saying her organization has lost funding despite providing life-saving tuberculosis treatment and prevention efforts worldwide.
“That is not correct, absolutely not true,” Ditiu said, adding that while her organization will continue operations, it will have to downsize—just weeks after securing what was expected to be a five-year funding commitment from USAID.
The U.S. has historically been the largest donor in the global fight against tuberculosis, a preventable and curable disease that remains the leading cause of death from an infectious agent worldwide. The Stop TB Partnership uses USAID funding to provide grants to 140 grassroots organizations, many of which conduct door-to-door outreach to find and treat those infected.
The State Department has not specified which programs have been cut and which have been spared. USAID, which represents less than 1% of the federal budget, has been a frequent target of budget-cutting efforts led by the White House and billionaire Elon Musk. The DOGE agency, a budget-cutting initiative Musk has championed, recently published a “wall of receipts” detailing USAID reductions—but the list has been criticized for inaccuracies, miscalculations, and unverified claims.