The Trump administration released $5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, mostly for security and counternarcotics programmes.
The freeze sparked a scramble by US officials and humanitarian organisations for exemptions to keep programmes going. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers in late January on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the top US allies in the Middle East, and for life-saving humanitarian aid, including food.
The waivers meant those funds should have been allowed to be spent.
The list provides the most comprehensive accounting of exempted funds since Trump ordered the aid freeze and reflects the White House’s desire to cut aid for programmes it doesn’t consider vital to US national security.
The list identifies programmes that will be funded and the US government office managing them.
The vast majority of released funds — more than $4.1 billion — were for programmes administered by the US State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which oversees arms sales and military assistance to other countries and groups.
Other exemptions were in line with Trump’s immigration crackdown and efforts to halt the flow of illicit narcotics into the US, including the deadly opioid fentanyl.
More than half of the programmes that will be allowed to go forward are run by the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, or INL, and are aimed at helping fight drug trafficking and illicit migration to the US, according to the list.
Those exemptions were worth $293 million and included funds for databases to track migrants, identify possible terrorists and share biometric information.
Also released was $397 million for a US-backed programme in Pakistan that a congressional aide said monitored Islamabad’s use of US-made F-16 fighter jets to ensure they are employed for counterterrorism operations and not against rival India.
