The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, is a branch of the federal government centered around providing resources to other countries—and now, one of the most recent departments placed under review by the Trump administration. Citing the alleged waste of resources and taxpayer dollars, President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) feel that this plan will benefit the country.
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order placing a 90-day pause on foreign aid spending, allowing time to review expenditures and determine if they fully align with foreign policy goals. Prior to the order, USAID was the main agency responsible for distributing funds for international development, providing the necessary resources for anything from polio vaccinations to earthquake detection. In the fiscal year 2023, the most recent for which data is published, USAID spent around 43.8 billion dollars—approximately 0.6% of total government spending.
President Trump and Elon Musk—the current figurehead of DOGE—feel that the executive order was an integral step in addressing what they view as wasteful spending.
“The corruption is at levels rarely seen before,” President Trump said in a February 7th Truth Social post. “Close it down!”
“It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm in it,” Musk said in a January 27th live session on X Spaces. “What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair. We’re shutting it down.”
Questions remain as to whether DOGE truly intends to shut the agency down entirely, simply cut back on its jurisdiction, or flesh out plans to add it into the Department of State. Regardless, the general outline of the plan falls in line with various trends apparent in the new administration, mainly cutting costs and President Trump’s self-proclaimed “America-first” mindset. He feels that taxpayer dollars should not be funneled out to other nations, a perspective that has both its supporters and opponents.
Junior Elizabeth Abramovich—president of the Southern Lehigh High School’s Junior State of America (JSA) club—feels that while the United States owes more to its citizens than to the outside world, foreign aid can serve both.
“Most foreign aid is allocated for the benefit of the United States, whether to maintain national security or support humanitarian efforts,” Abramovich said. “Domestic affairs should be the priority; however, given that foreign aid accounts for less than 1% of total expenditures, our ability to aid and assist other nations should be exercised.”
Junior Mark Hernandez, JSA vice-president, agrees that it is the responsibility of the United States to participate in aid efforts.
“As a first-world country, we have the responsibility to improve global conditions and aid developing countries,” Hernandez said. “Exceptions would be made to corrupt countries and those that are misusing funding, as hardworking [American] citizens earned this money.”
In addition to cutting off USAID’s funding, the plan placed around 500 agency staff members on leave as of Tuesday, February 4th, with the intention of doing the same to another 2,200 on Friday, February 7th. However, this second round of suspensions was put on hold by a civil lawsuit filed by the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees in the court of District Court ​​Judge Carl Nichols.
Judge Nichols ruled that USAID employees affected by the executive order would suffer significant harm, especially those still overseas when it went into effect, and thus placed a limited temporary restraining order on its effects.

“This is a prime example of the checks and balances put in place by the founding fathers and the Constitution being put to use,” Hernandez said. “It should serve as a reminder that citizens of the US should still have hope that our government will not allow for a single person to assume complete, limitless power over the country and its agencies.”
The restraining order was originally set to terminate February 14th, though Judge Nichols then extended it another week until February 21st, at which time he released another ruling. He now claims that since USAID is “still standing,” employees should direct their complaints through it and the federal courts rather than civil lawsuits.
Moreover, as of March 5th, the Supreme Court held in a 5-4 ruling that President Trump’s actions in pausing USAID’s foreign aid spending was unconstitutional and therefore would be overturned. Though no changes have yet been enforced, this lends a new precedent to judicial power superseding that of executive orders.
President Trump and Musk have expressed irritation at this check on their authority, raising questions over the balance of power between these branches. AP Government and Politics teacher Mr. Thomas Beaupre will be keeping up on the implications of these events.
“President Trump is attempting to assert more executive power than other presidents have in the past,” he said, “and we’ll see if Congress decides to challenge those assertions or just let them go unchecked.”

ADDITIONAL QUOTES (for liftouts if we need to take up more space on the page):

“There is a reason for the multiple branches of government— they keep each other in check. This action only reinforces the judiciary’s role as a check on executive power. Some say that if the executive branch were to ignore these court rulings, a constitutional crisis could occur, which would highly disrupt the balance of power.” – Abramovich

“No matter the department, there should always be a limit on power to prevent overreach, especially in this case. Without proper oversight and restrictions, essential government functions could be disrupted, and the separation of powers could be weakened significantly, leading to unchecked authority and increased risk of corruption.” – Abramovich