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State Department begins 90‑day review of USAID awards; spokeswoman says some grants already cut
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Summary
Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the State Department has paused parts of USAID spending for a 90‑day review to look for waste, fraud and abuse, that some awards have been terminated during the review and that a department fact sheet misstated annual foreign‑aid spending before being corrected.
Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, told reporters that the department has placed parts of U.S. foreign‑assistance spending under a 90‑day review to assess whether taxpayer dollars are being used appropriately and to identify waste, fraud and abuse.
"This began with a simple inquiry of USAID to look at their books, to look and inquire, and they refused," Bruce said, describing the start of the review. "It was a pause, a 90 day pause, we shouldn't forget that, to look at the nature of how the taxpayer money has been spent and if it was being used in the proper way for the things that we've allotted it for."
The review follows an executive‑branch effort, Bruce said, to examine how federal foreign‑assistance funds are managed and whether they advance U.S. national interests. She acknowledged that some programs and awards have already been cut during the review process and said decisions are being made on a case‑by‑case basis.
"If there were programs and if they've been cut the answer would be is that they did not serve either American interests or make [us] safer, more secure, or more prosperous," Bruce said. She added that the review does not mean the United States will stop foreign aid, but that the administration will assess how aid is delivered.
Reporters asked for specifics. Bruce declined to detail any potential referrals or law‑enforcement actions, saying she could not comment on litigation or investigations. When pressed about a State Department fact sheet that initially said the United States spent roughly $70 billion a year on foreign aid and was later changed online to $40 billion, Bruce acknowledged the error and said it had been corrected.
Bruce also reiterated that the department has a process to restore or exempt "life‑saving" programs and that organizations can apply for waivers or otherwise make their case to the department if funding was terminated. She said the secretary is directly involved in the assessment process.
Why it matters: The review affects a wide set of U.S. government grants and contracts administered by USAID and other State Department bureaus. Reporters raised concerns about the transparency of which awards have been cut and whether life‑saving programs have been affected. Bruce said the department would seek to provide accurate information but declined to promise immediate public release of a complete list of affected grants.
Bruce's remarks followed repeated questions from reporters including Matt Lee of The Associated Press and Rich Edson of Fox News about the size of the State Department/USAID account in the federal budget, the number and value of awards cut, and whether the department has evidence of illegal wrongdoing. Bruce declined to specify an account percentage and said she had been receiving notifications about numbers but could not provide day‑of specifics.
The department cited a 90‑day review that it is using to assess programs, with decisions made on a program‑by‑program basis. Bruce said some awards were terminated during the review but that there is a pathway for programs that are truly life‑saving to obtain waivers or reconsideration.
Bruce said the review is part of broader changes the administration is pursuing "to deal with waste, fraud, and abuse" and to ensure that each dollar "advances our national interests."
