WASHINGTON — Several Democratic members of Congress rallied outside the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Feb. 3, following an announcement by the Trump administration that it would seek to shut down the agency.
USAID is an independent agency established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act, with the mandate of overseeing humanitarian assistance to needy populations worldwide and a focus on ending extreme poverty. USAID has operated in more than 100 countries and regions—including conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Gaza—and had a budget of more than $44 billion for fiscal year 2024.
