This legislative ask is designed to be shared with your members of Congress and their staff.
In just the first year of President Trump’s second term, the administration terminated over 80% of foreign assistance grants and contracts and abolished the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) – all without advanced Congressional approval and in violation of previously enacted appropriations. Under the Constitution, Congress holds the power of the purse. And when the Executive Branch refuses to spend funds as appropriated by Congress, delays their release, or redirects them to unauthorized purposes, it violates the Constitution and the very foundations of our democratic institutions. These matters of Constitutional authority and responsibility are not theoretical; they are life or death issues for millions around the world who have relied on life sustaining aid from the United States.
As a Quaker organization, FCNL believes we are called to love and care for our neighbors, without exception. FCNL also recognizes that all presidential administrations have the right to review ongoing programs for alignment with their policy goals. However, the terminations and disruptions over the past year have impacted almost all life-saving humanitarian, peacebuilding, health, and poverty-focused foreign assistance with devastating impacts. In just a year, the cuts to global health programs have led to more than 500,000 preventable child deaths and over 200,000 preventable adult deaths.
Peacebuilding and violent conflict prevention programs not only saves lives but strengthens U.S. leadership globally. These programs create stability where democratic institutions can flourish, prevent non-state armed groups from exploiting chaos, open opportunities for trade, and strengthen partnerships with allies who share a commitment to peace. Without them, new research has found that countries that previously received significant foreign assistance investments in sub-Saharan Africa have seen around a 5% increase in the number of conflict events in just the first year since the dissolution of USAID.
Congress must act to prevent further executive overreach and fully fund foreign assistance in the FY27 National Security, State Department and Related Programs (NSRP) appropriations. We urge Congress to:
- Reassert its Article I powers of the purse, block any future attempts to rescind or impound appropriated foreign assistance funds, and increase guardrails on future foreign assistance to ensure funds are spent as directed and in a timely, transparent manner.
- Fully fund peacebuilding in FY27, including with $25 million for Reconciliation Programs to conduct people-to-people reconciliation programs and $25 million for Atrocities Prevention to prevent mass atrocities and genocide.