Millions of dollars in food aid risks spoilage due to Trump USAID pause About $8.2 billion in humanitarian food aid is at risk because of conflicting guidance and staffing issues related to the Trump administration’s pause on foreign assistance, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Office of Inspector General. More than $489 million of food aid sitting at ports, in transit, and warehouses is at risk of spoilage, according to a new IG report released Monday. Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) warehouses around the world contain emergency food aid supplied by U.S. manufacturers and American farmers. Along with the millions of pounds of food aid waiting in BHA warehouses, there is an additional 1.1 billion pounds of food ready to ship or currently at sea, according to USAID staff. “Recent widespread staffing reductions across the Agency, particularly within BHA, coupled with uncertainty about the scope of foreign assistance waivers and permissible communications with implementers, has degraded USAID’s ability to distribute and safeguard taxpayer-funded humanitarian assistance,” the report said. The fallout from the cuts to U.S. foreign assistance has also limited USAID and BHA’s ability to fulfil its obligations to complete audit requests and report to Congress, it added.
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