For Immediate Release
February 2, 2026
Press Contact: Communications & Outreach Director Nikki Gamer | gamer@afsa.org

Washington, D.C. – One year ago, the administration shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Within days, an institution that had represented the best of American values around the world was effectively gone.

For more than six decades, USAID averted crises by stabilizing regions, forging alliances, and saving lives. It was one of America's most effective tools of soft power, projecting influence through medicine, food, infrastructure, and trust. In an era of intensifying competition with China and Russia, USAID was how America showed up.

USAID’s sudden shutdown halted life-saving programs midstream, fractured relationships with partner nations, and left vulnerable communities without vital support. The collapse of development and health programs is responsible for more than half a million preventable deaths already—two-thirds of them children.

The institutional expertise needed to prevent such losses was discarded alongside the programs. Many of the 16,000 professionals forced out had spent decades in the field—serving in dangerous locations, building partnerships, responding to emergencies. Their careers were grounded in trust, nonpartisanship, and a belief in America’s role in the world. That expertise cannot be rebuilt overnight.

One year later, the United States is slower to respond, less equipped to lead, and more isolated in a world where trust is currency.

And yet, service endures. The people who made USAID a force for good are still working, in new ways, to serve their country, whether in government, nonprofit organizations, or within their own communities. They have not given up on America. Neither have we.

We are a coalition of unions and USAID alumni who have come together to honor those who served and to issue a warning: the tactics used against USAID—public vilification and institutional sabotage—are appearing across government. When a nation attacks its institutions and its public servants, it weakens itself. When it abandons its tools of peaceful influence, it cedes ground to those who do not share its values.

That is why Congress and the courts must act to ensure that the administration adheres to the rule of law and that the illegal actions begun over a year ago do not continue to harm or add new harms to USAID’s workforce. Congress must reclaim its oversight role and demand transparency and accountability from any administration, to ensure this kind of illegal institutional destruction never happens again.

Signed by the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA); AFGE Local 1534; OneAID; Our USAID Community (OUC); Aid on the Hill; and the USAID Alumni Association (UAA).

About Signatories:

The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) is the professional association and labor union of the men and women of the United States Foreign Service.

AFGE Local 1534 is an American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) local representing civil servants at USAID, the Department of State, and the Development Finance Corporation.

OneAID is a grassroots organization whose mission is to sustain and empower the U.S. foreign assistance community. They serve as a connector and information hub to carry forward the knowledge, expertise, and dedication of a community that transcends borders and advances global peace and prosperity.

Our USAID Community is an organization led by former members of USAID’s workforce, dedicated to informing and empowering our former colleagues to individually and collectively advocate for their rights and seek accountability for the dismantling of USAID.

Aid on the Hill is a nonpartisan, practitioner-led initiative dedicated to strengthening America’s international assistance as a strategic instrument of peace, prosperity, and global leadership.

USAID Alumni Association fosters collegial networks of former USAID employees while promoting exchange of knowledge among alumni who wish to use their public service experience to advance global development. UAA facilitates access to alumni expertise for professional counsel and public education in support of sound U.S. foreign assistance.