On January 25, 2025, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued an order to freeze payments for most existing foreign aid grants for a period of 90 days. The directive, reported by Politico and Reuters, also halts the allocation of new grants.
The order mandates that senior officials ensure, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that no new commitments for foreign aid are undertaken until Rubio completes a review. However, the document outlines certain exceptions, allowing continued military funding for Egypt and Israel, which receive approximately $1.3 billion and $3.3 billion annually, respectively.
Emergency food assistance and legitimate expenses incurred prior to the issuance of this directive are permitted under existing contracts. A report is expected to be prepared by the State Department within 85 days, which will accompany Rubio's recommendations to President Donald Trump regarding which foreign aid programs to continue or terminate.
The suspension of foreign aid programs is expected to impact Ukraine, with sources indicating that officials responsible for projects in the country have been instructed to cease operations. Among the halted projects are those aimed at supporting schools and vaccinating children.
Additionally, the directive reportedly suspends the FMF (Foreign Military Financing) program, which had $1.6 billion allocated by Congress last year. However, other military assistance programs for Ukraine, such as U.S. stockpile weapon deliveries and contracts under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, remain unaffected. Pentagon officials confirmed that no new instructions regarding these programs have been issued.
This suspension follows President Trump's January 20 executive order to pause all U.S. foreign aid programs for 90 days pending reviews to assess their alignment with his political objectives. The United States is the largest donor of foreign aid globally, having allocated $72 billion for these purposes in the 2023 fiscal year.