THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026 29 With a stop work order issued on January 28, 2025, the Trump administration halted USAID overnight—effectively shuttering 64 years of U.S. investment in global health, economic development, and democratic governance in more than 100 countries. The closure of USAID had a profound professional, financial, and emotional impact on USAID Foreign Service members. One year after reduction-in-force (RIF) letters went out, on March 27, 2026, I asked USAID Foreign Service officers (FSOs) to respond to a longitudinal survey to document the impact of USAID’s dismantling on aid sector employees and their families. I received responses from 574 former USAID FSOs. This survey is part of my graduate work at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. A survey conducted by a USAID alumna found the agency’s closure had a profound professional, financial, and emotional impact on its Foreign Service members. BY JAIME MICHELLE OBERLANDER Jaime Michelle Oberlander served as a USAID Foreign Service officer in Pakistan, Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia from 2015 to 2025 and as a civil servant at the U.S. Department of State from 2009 to 2015. Following the closure of USAID, she is pursuing a career in mental health and is currently a graduate student at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Author’s note: The survey instrument was reviewed by the University of Michigan Institutional Review Board. This survey was circulated on LinkedIn and shared through alumni channels such as AFSA, Our USAID Community, and OneAID, from March 27 through April 26, 2026. While there are limitations to self-reported data, the high response rate (30 percent of the USAID Foreign Service workforce) suggests that USAID FSOs have a story to tell and want their experience documented. COLLATERAL DAMAGE THE HUMAN COST OF DISMANTLING USAID FOCUS A WORLD WITHOUT
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