Democratic members hold shadow hearing as former USAID staff and contractors describe halted lifesaving programs and mass layoffs

At a shadow hearing convened by Democratic members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, career USAID employees and contractors testified that an executive order and subsequent agency actions effectively halted most life‑saving foreign assistance programs and left thousands of U.S. and partner staff without pay or program authority.

The witnesses told committee members they had documented widespread program terminations, contract stoppages and a dramatic reduction in technical staff available to run global health and humanitarian responses — developments they said would lead to preventable deaths, destabilize partner countries and undermine U.S. national security interests.

Nicholas Enrich, who identified himself as the acting assistant administrator for Global Health at USAID before he was placed on administrative leave, said the bureau implements roughly $10,000,000,000 appropriated annually by Congress for global health and that, by March 2, “all or nearly all” of the awards needed to implement lifesaving activities had been terminated. Enrich said a presidential executive order issued Jan. 20, 2025, described as a “pause on foreign assistance,” and a Jan. 28 blanket waiver from Secretary of State Marco Rubio for lifesaving humanitarian assistance were insufficient in practice because political leadership at USAID and at State blocked approvals and payments.

“The waiver could have been the…