"It is a huge grab of power from the president, taking powers away from Congress," said David Super, a Georgetown law professor — a blunt diagnosis that captures the constitutional stakes laid out in recent reporting on U.S. foreign aid.
Russell Vought, the OMB, and "unallocated" funds
The Office of Management and Budget, led by Russell Vought, has placed wide swaths of foreign-aid appropriations under new restraints. According to OMB data cited in the reporting, more than $500 million in global health money was labeled "unallocated," and most humanitarian aid had been similarly restricted until some funds were released in May and fully released to the State Department by June 11. Inside and outside government officials told reporters that making funds "unallocated" prevents agencies from obligating them without OMB approval — a practice legal scholars say likely violates the Impoundment Control Act.
State Department pacing, PEPFAR funding, and congressionally directed pots
Congress specified $9.4 billion for global health in the spending bill and earmarked roughly $4.6 billion of that for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Yet by the end of March the administration had obligated only $190 million — 5% of the typical rate for that point in the fiscal year, according to an analysis shared by Aid on the Hill. Career staff told reporters they were given just half of available PEPFAR money, and that the State Department had made little or no effort to obligate funds Congress set aside for family planning ($524 million), nutrition ($165 million) and neglected tropical diseases ($109 million). The State Department disputed the independent analyses, saying it had "approved and implemented spending" and that it "has continued to obligate and spend every dollar appropriated for global HIV/AIDS programs."
Jeremy Lewin, the America First Global Health Strategy, and personnel gaps
Since July, Jeremy Lewin — described in reporting as a 29-year-old lawyer who "came into government via Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency" — has been "performing the duties" of undersecretary for foreign assistance and humanitarian affairs without a formal nomination. Current and former career officials told reporters that Lewin rarely met with career staff, insisted on approving even routine payments, and created a "stranglehold on funding and information." The administration has framed a new "America First Global Health Strategy" around bilateral deals and greater use of host-country agreements; officials argue these align with administration priorities, while critics say they slow obligations and convert previously multilateral flows into political leverage.
U.N. OCHA, the Global Fund, and redirected channels
With USAID largely dismantled and its staff terminated last year, the administration has shifted large amounts of money to multilateral partners. Lewin arranged a $3.8 billion transfer to the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, quadrupling that office's budget, according to an agreement reviewed by reporters. That agreement reportedly does not allow the U.S. to independently audit the funds, though the U.N. agreed to a pilot project for greater internal oversight. Separately, Congress directed the State Department to make good on pledges to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; yet congressional staff, a Global Fund board member and Friends of the Global Fight said the administration should contribute another $661 million. A State Department spokesperson told reporters that "all current funding obligations have been met."
What this means for Congress, humanitarian recipients, and multilateral partners
- Congress: Lawmakers who wrote detailed spending directions into law — including program-level earmarks and reporting requirements — have seen repeated delays and unanswered letters. Senators described the situation in constitutional terms: one legal scholar said the pattern threatens Congress's power of the purse.
- Humanitarian recipients and health programs: Career officials and analysts warned that slowed obligations and prior program shutdowns led to clinics closing and lives lost. Independent analyses cited in reporting show global health programming moving at a much slower rate than in prior years, raising concern that promised services for HIV, TB, malaria, nutrition and family planning will be interrupted.
- Multilateral organizations: The State Department's increased reliance on entities like the U.N.'s OCHA and the Global Fund places larger operational burdens on partners, while reported limits on U.S. audit rights could complicate oversight and accountability.
Reporting documents a redistribution of authority inside the federal budget process: OMB has asserted new discretion, the State Department has been ordered by Congress to spend specific sums for named programs, and career staff find themselves constrained by both a lack of personnel and layers of political approval. Critics call the pattern a "fundamental threat to the rule of law"; administration officials say they are following presidential direction and have begun to obligate funds consistent with legal requirements and priorities. With several billion dollars in programmatic dollars at issue and roughly four months remaining in the fiscal year, the central test is concrete — will appropriated funds be obligated as Congress directed, or will new executive maneuvers again reroute or rescind those dollars?
