EO 14169: Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid
ANALYSIS: This order mandated an immediate 90-day pause on new obligations and disbursements of U.S. foreign development assistance. During this period, federal agencies were instructed to review these programs for efficiency and alignment with U.S. foreign policy, determining whether to continue, modify, or terminate each program, with final decisions requiring approval from the Secretary of State.
Project 2025 advocates for consolidating presidential power by restricting funds for programs promoting progressive policies, including certain foreign aid initiatives. The project's influence is evident in the administration's decision to pause federal loans and grants, reflecting its agenda to curtail funding for programs perceived as advancing liberal agendas.
Direct negative impacts:
Humanitarian Disruptions: The suspension of aid-affected services in refugee camps, such as Al-Hawl in Syria, led to reduced access to essential resources like water and sanitation and heightened security concerns.
Global Health Challenges: Programs like the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) experienced operational interruptions, jeopardizing HIV treatment and prevention services for millions worldwide.
Operational Uncertainty: The abrupt funding freeze caused confusion among organizations reliant on U.S. aid, hindering their ability to plan and deliver critical services.
Legal and Administrative Turmoil: The order prompted legal challenges and led to significant personnel changes within agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), disrupting oversight and implementation of aid programs.
CONCLUSION: Executive Order 14169 aimed to ensure that U.S. foreign aid aligns with national interests; its execution has resulted in considerable humanitarian, health, and administrative challenges. Referenced in Chapter 9: U.S. Agency for International Development (Max Primorac). Project 2025 argues U.S. foreign aid should align with American interests and values, and that much aid is misaligned. The EO declares U.S. policy to ensure no aid is disbursed contrary to the President’s foreign policy – directly mirroring the Mandate’s language.
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1 . Purpose. The United States foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values. They serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries.
Sec. 2 . Policy. It is the policy of United States that no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States.
Sec. 3 . (a) 90-day pause in United States foreign development assistance for assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy. All department and agency heads with responsibility for United States foreign development assistance programs shall immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds to foreign countries and implementing non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors pending reviews of such programs for programmatic efficiency and consistency with United States foreign policy, to be conducted within 90 days of this order. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shall enforce this pause through its apportionment authority.
(b) Reviews of United States foreign assistance programs. Reviews of each foreign assistance program shall be ordered by the responsible department and agency heads under guidelines provided by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Director of OMB.
(c) Determinations. The responsible department and agency heads, in consultation with the Director of OMB, will make determinations within 90 days of this order on whether to continue, modify, or cease each foreign assistance program based upon the review recommendations, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State.
(d) Resumption of paused development assistance funding. New obligations and disbursements of foreign development assistance funds may resume for a program prior to the end of the 90-day period if a review is conducted, and the Secretary of State or his designee, in consultation with the Director of OMB, decide to continue the program in the same or modified form. Additionally, any other new foreign assistance programs and obligations must be approved by the Secretary of State or his designee, in consultation with the Director of OMB.
(e) Waiver. The Secretary of State may waive the pause in Section 3(a) for specific programs.
Sec. 4 . General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
