February 21, 2025
The past month has seen a dizzying number of actions that are having major implications not only for U.S. foreign assistance but also for America’s role in the world. Yesterday afternoon on Capitol Hill, in partnership with the bipartisan Congressional Caucus for Effective Foreign Assistance, MFAN hosted a congressional staff briefing to discuss these actions, including: the Administration’s 90-day review of foreign assistance programs issued by Executive Order on January 20th; the stop work order for U.S. foreign assistance issued on January 24th ,and the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The event, held in the Rayburn House Office Building’s Gold Room, was a packed, standing room-only audience of nearly 100 congressional staff. After opening remarks from MFAN’s Executive Director Tod Preston, MFAN co-chair Lester Munson, Principal at BGR Group and former GOP Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, moderated the discussion with Erin Collinson, Director of Policy Outreach at the Center for Global Development; Allison Dembeck, Head of Policy at Save the Children US; James Mazzarella, former Senior Director for Global Economics and Developments on the National Security Council; and Chris Milligan, former USAID Counselor. In addition to discussing the impacts of recent Administration actions on programs around the world and on America's strength and global influence, panelists talked about the role of Congress as the authorizers and appropriators of U.S. foreign assistance funding.
This was the fourth congressional staff briefing MFAN has hosted in partnership with the Congressional Caucus for Effective Foreign Assistance since it was relaunched in late 2023 under the leadership of Congresswoman Young Kim (R-CA) and Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA).
