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Lawmakers say statutory education, family‑planning and PEPFAR programs were canceled; Rubio says funds will be reallocated into new assistance buckets
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Summary
Subcommittee Democrats told Secretary Rubio that the administration’s foreign‑assistance review canceled or paused congressionally required programs — including international education under the READ Act and bilateral family‑planning awards — and demanded plans for statutory compliance.
Ranking subcommittee members told Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the administration’s assistance review led to the cancellation of congressionally directed, statutory programs — including international basic education programs under the Reinforcing Education Accountability in Development (READ) Act, and bilateral international family‑planning and reproductive health awards — and demanded the Department describe plans to comply with legal obligations.
Representative Grace Meng, Representative Lois Frankel and others cited specific statutory directives that they said required continued funding and warned of immediate consequences. At one point a member said the READ Act reauthorization — a bill Rubio helped introduce in 2017 — required programming that the administration’s review had paused. Frankel and Meng said tens of millions of learners and millions of women and couples who received contraceptive services faced disruption.
Rubio said he viewed some programs as “development assistance” that should be prioritized on a country‑by‑country basis by embassies and regional bureaus rather than through broad global contracts. On family planning, Rubio told the committee: “There’s no plan. As I said on those programs, with regards to that, there’s no plan to spend that money. We’re not gonna be in that business globally.” He later said funds would be channeled into broader human/refugee or development assistance buckets and that the administration would work with Congress to “find a way to channel those funds in a way that comply with the statute.”
Members sought an explicit commitment that congressionally appropriated funds earmarked for statutory programs would be spent in ways consistent with the statutes that created them. Rubio pointed to OMB as the vehicle for decisions on the disposition of unobligated FY2025 balances and said the administration would seek to work with Congress on funding and statutory compliance. Democrats repeatedly urged immediate restoration or at least documented transition plans for programs that supporters said saved lives and advanced stability.
The committee requested written responses and documentation, including lists of programs canceled, the specific statutory authority cited for any change, and a timeline for how the administration intends to comply with statutory requirements while it implements reorganization and program reviews.
