The EO reorganizing President Trump’s National Security Council (NSC) puts in place a structure for policy development, decision-making, implementation, and monitoring, but does not have room for USAID, reflecting that development and humanitarian assistance has been taken down a notch. The previous administration had elevated USAID Administrator Samantha Power to the NSC, reflecting her stature and recognizing that USAID was the NSC’s “ground game.”
Secretary of State Rubio wishes to keep a short leash on foreign assistance to ensure alignment with foreign policy and a clear return on investment. In a recent cable reported on by the National Review, Rubio tasked State’s Director of Policy Planning with ensuring that State and USAID non-security foreign assistance is aligned with America First foreign policy. The Director is also tasked with coordinating the creation of one database for all State Department funding awards to address his frustration that there is insufficient information to determine if these awards are both effective and consistent with the policies of President Trump.
Read the EO entitled, “Organization of the National Security Council and Subcommittees,” here.
Read the National Review article on Rubio’s directions on the foreign assistance review here. a N
