The State Department inspector general has launched an assessment of the billions of dollars in foreign aid for hundreds of awards through the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The purpose of the evaluation is to “describe the Department’s administration of USAID foreign assistance programs and associated awards recently transferred to the Department,” the inspector general’s office said. “The Department is responsible for administering select USAID functions, including continuing foreign assistance programs and associated awards transferred to the Department in July 2025.”
According to recent figures, 951 awards with a “total estimated cost of nearly $75 billion were to be distributed among 14 Department bureaus, some of which have not previously implemented foreign assistance programs,” the inspector general added, “and others which were created during the Department’s recent reorganization.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the end of USAID earlier this month, declaring that it has had “a near-infinite taxpayer budget to advance American influence, promote economic development worldwide, and allow billions to stand on their own two feet.”
“As of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance,” Rubio added. “Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies—and which advance American interests—will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency.”
July 1, Rubio said, marked the “beginning of a new era of global partnership, peace, investment, and prosperity,” as the State Department’s takeover of USAID would prioritize “trade over aid, opportunity over dependency, and investment over assistance.”
The agency’s closure followed the State Department’s declaration that it would reorganize USAID.
