The US Agency for International Development and U.S. Foreign Policy

One of the first acts of the second Trump administration was to pause all US assistance to foreign nations followed by the dissolution of the federal agency charged with administering $43.8 billion assistance funds and firing of almost all its approximately 10,000 staff—two-thirds of which worked overseas in developing nations. What is the impact this action has on the effectiveness and impact of US foreign policy? Can other US government agencies fill the gap?

Deadline registration date

Dec 02, 2025, 11:00 PM MST

Bio

Michael Schiffer served as the Assistant Administrator of the USAID Bureau for Asia from 2022 to 2025. Prior to that, he was senior advisor and counselor on the Democratic Staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. From 2009 to 2012, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia. Before joining the Department of Defense he was a program officer at the Stanley Foundation, a Council on Foreign Relations Hitachi International Affairs Fellow, and worked on the staff of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), including as her national security adviser and Legislative Director. Prior to that, he was Director of International Security Programs at New York University's Center for War, Peace, and the News Media

Mr. Schiffer received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and

graduate degrees from the London School of Economics and New York University.

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