The White House has ordered the U.S. State Department to halt overseas grants to nearly all programs funded by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL).
US State Department ordered to end almost all grant programs
The Guardian reports that nearly $1.3 billion in grants will be affected, three US State Department officials told reporters, citing briefings on the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Foreign Aid Review.
Of the 391 active grants, only two were not recommended for reduction, U.S. officials said. They involved one program in China and another in Yemen.
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“These recommendations would cut off about 80 percent of all U.S. government foreign aid,” said a State Department official who briefly explained the review's findings.
Most of the DRL programs at risk of termination are not publicly listed. They support vulnerable people or minorities in countries with authoritarian governments that could retaliate against recipients of U.S. aid.
Some of the programs targeted for review will include a rapid response team designed to support pro-democracy activists abroad who may require urgent resettlement or other protection if their lives are threatened.
“These programs provide a lifeline for organizers and civil society who are working to try to bring democratic values to these countries,” one source said, adding that the countries in question were Cuba and Venezuela.
Other grants focus on internet censorship, media literacy, human rights, crime prevention and election assistance programs, and efforts to combat transnational repression by countries like China.
“The provision of any foreign assistance, particularly for democracy promotion programs, will be determined by whether it makes the United States safer and stronger,” the State Department official said.
