On July 1, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) ceased to exist as an independent entity, with its operations absorbed by the U.S. State Department under a new agency named “America First.” The closure follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s March announcement that 83% of USAID’s programs had been cut.

Founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, USAID had long enjoyed bipartisan support and was credited with transforming global health, development, and humanitarian aid sectors.

Lancet Warns of “Staggering” Global Impact

A study published in The Lancet estimates that the shutdown could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030 — a third of them children — due to abrupt funding cuts in health, nutrition, education, and disaster response. Researchers compared the likely fallout to a global pandemic or a major war, warning it was “a conscious and avoidable policy choice.”

The same study credited USAID with preventing 91 million deaths in low- and middle-income countries over the past 20 years.

Obama, Bush, and Bono Speak Out

In a private video farewell to USAID staff, Obama called the shutdown “a colossal mistake” and said: “Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy.” He credited the agency with transforming aid recipients into future U.S. trade partners and predicted it would eventually be reinstated: “Sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realise how much you are needed.”

George W. Bush, who expanded global AIDS funding under PEPFAR, said: “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you.”

Singer Bono also joined the message, reciting a farewell poem: “They called you crooks / When you were the best of us.”

Political and Public Reaction

The closure has been sharply defended by President Trump, who called USAID a nest of “radical left lunatics” and “tremendous fraud.” Elon Musk echoed the sentiment, describing the agency as “a criminal organisation.”

Critics argue the move isolates the U.S. diplomatically and undermines decades of soft power built through humanitarian engagement. Aid experts warn it could dismantle global health architecture just as threats like famine and pandemics escalate.