The U.S. Agency for International Development had terminated about 90% of its awards by March 2026, while the State Department took over responsibility for the remaining active programs, according to a new review by the Government Accountability Office. In an interview with The Independent published Oct. 29, former USAID Acting Assistant Administrator for Global Health Nicholas Enrich said the agency’s closure marked a retreat in U.S. global-health leadership.
GAO found that about 6,780 of 7,510 USAID awards active on or after January 2025 had been terminated by March 2026. Cumulative obligations on terminated awards totaled $79.1 billion, while active awards transferred to State represented $52.1 billion. GAO cautioned that the $79.1 billion figure is not a measure of savings or money returned to the U.S. government.
The review also reported that USAID’s workforce fell from about 13,600 worldwide in January 2025 to 241 federal civilian employees in April 2026. The figures do not cover identical groups: the earlier count included locally employed staff and contractors, which the later count excluded. GAO also found that State could not provide complete workforce data or evidence of documented agencywide guidance for foreign-assistance decisions.
