The Republican Party has a moral duty to speak up against swingeing cuts to USAID…

Time is running out for millions of people in the world’s poorest nations as the US takes a step closer to making drastic cuts to its international aid budget.

Tariffs, Ukraine and Gaza have dominated the headlines, for good reason, but we should not forget Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s plans for USAID and the Republican Party’s complicit role in its destruction.

Despite the Trump Administration’s plans to make huge reductions in spending Congress passed a budget bill on 14th March which prevented a government shutdown and delivered continuity of spending until September. However, there remains a question mark over foreign assistance funding.

Is the world at risk now of losing its moral compass?

This was certainly enough to shake the World Health Organisation (WHO) to its core as at a media briefing on 17th March the WHO’s Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanmon Ghebreyesus, warned that the cuts to direct U.S. aid funding are already having a negative impact on disease prevention.

He said,

‘Over the last two decades, the U.S. has been the largest bilateral donor to the fight against malaria, helping to prevent an estimated 2.2 billion cases and 12.7 million deaths.

If disruptions continue, we could see an additional 15 million cases of malaria and 107,000 deaths this year alone, reversing 15 years of progress.

It’s a similar story with HIV…Disruptions to HIV programmes could undo 20 years of progress, leading to more than 10 million additional cases of HIV and 3 million HIV-related deaths – more than triple the number of deaths last year.’

The World Food Program has also closed its southern Africa office, and more closers are likely which will diminish its ability to feed those most in need.

It is true that the Trump Administration has every right to spend their nations wealth on any international aid programme they wish or choose not to. However, what appears unforgivable is the callous way they are withdrawing aid funding, which currently amounts to approximately 60 billion dollars, without an adequate transition period or giving other nations the opportunity to fill the gap.

Regardless of the motivations of the US Administration, which they say are linked to reducing their national debt and other factors, Republican Senators in Congress have a moral duty to consider the plight of the poorest peoples before agreeing to these drastic budget reductions.

Congress could be voting on a ‘rescissions package’ quite soon which is a mechanism that Senators can use to reduce previously appropriated funds. This rescission legislation is in accordance with the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The Clinton Administration and by President Ronald Reagan have both used rescission legislation in previous years. In effect it is a way the US government can reduce allocated budgets or make cuts to previously agreed financial arrangements.

However, the Republican Party has a long history of holding traditional values – many of which originate from a Christian ethos – and therefore it is sometimes difficult to reconcile these Christian principles to these aid cuts which will likely pass through Congress. Maybe UK and Irish politicians, who have a connection to the Senate, should remind them of these most basic facts.

It is also possible that the world is changing because of the cultural, social and political divisions in the US and elsewhere. Do these traditional principles matter anymore or are we seeing them replaced with a new set of harsher and more secular rules?

The stakes could not be higher for those who are reliant on an international food programme or a disease prevention programme.