Washington
CNN
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The top officials of the U.S. International Development Agency took leave after issuing a scathing memo denounced Trump’s political appointees of the US government’s inability to carry out life-humanitarian activities.
Officials warned that the move by Trump’s appointees “will undoubtedly pose preventable deaths, destabilization and threats to national security on a massive scale.”
A memo from Nicholas Enrich, representing the global heath administrator at USAID, details the “oppression” that prevents the implementation of life-saving waiver by “Political Leadership of USAID, the State Department and DOGE.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly argued that he has issued such exemptions to exempt support from the drastic freeze on foreign aid established in late January.
“These actions, individually and in combination, have led to the failure of the US government to carry out important life-saving efforts,” Enrich wrote in a memo dated February 28th, seen by CNN.
In another memo obtained by CNN, Redich warned of suspension of foreign aid and the suspension of delays to humanitarian assistance to lifesaving.
“Don’t contain the infection in the source will increase the risk of infection in the US and pose a direct threat to public health and economic stability. The results will expand beyond human health, increase health costs, disrupt international trade, and strain domestic resources, affecting American businesses and families,” Ensic said in a 20-page memo linked in a 20-page memo dated February 28th.
He predicted that there will be 12.5 million to 17.9 million malaria cases each year, plus 71,000 to 166,000 deaths, and about 2,000 malaria cases will be imported into the United States per year.
For the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), Enrich says the “worst-case scenario” can see 775 million cases worldwide, with 105 million in the US.
“Based on the known impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the HPAI pandemic is likely to cost the United States at least $14 trillion,” warned Endich. “The economic impact of animal losses from avian flu in 2022 will cost the US economy up to $3 billion.”
Enrich also warned that by suspending maternal and child health programs, tens of millions of pregnant women, newborns and children could lose access to life-saving care. With the suspension of nutrition services, one million children may not be treated annually due to severe acute malnutrition, Rich said.
“Foreign assistance for mothers and children’s health and nutrition will strengthen America by creating greater economic and political stability by improving family health.
Another memo on “Risks to U.S. National Security and Public Health” was dated March 4th. Enrich did not fill in recipients for the “to” field, but he made four political appointees cC in USAID.
Enrich will “reopen all the mechanisms submitted for life-saving immunity to avoid crisis-level spending, prevent mortality and morbidity, and protect national security.”
“Advocating these programs is not only a legal and humanitarian obligation, but also a critical strategic investment to make America safer, safer and more prosperous,” he writes.
In a February 28 memo, Redich detailed the types of activities affected by the Freeze, along with actions taken by Trump administration appointees from January 29th to February 28th, along with actions taken by Trump administration appointees who blocked them from moving forward with their lives.
These include “emergency response activities necessary to respond to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda, the first approved global health activity under the exemption.”
“Even though we received approval to implement these Ebola response activities about a month ago, our implementation partners were unable to withdraw funds for these life-saving activities and have not received previous funds,” Ensic wrote.
The statement directly rebuts claims by Elon Musk, who is leading the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the federal government that Ebola prevention was “accidentally cancelled” but “quickly” recovered.
Redich was placed on administrative leave after issuing a memo. Three sources familiar with the issue told CNN.
CNN has contacted the State Department and is seeking comment from USAID.
Some of the actions that led to the agency’s lifesaving assistance exemptions were denied payments for assistance implemented and blocked access to the USAID payment system.
In a note on February 28th, Enrich also noted that “significant staffing changes occurred within the USAID office for global health throughout the time frame in question.” It will affect you regularly by firing staff without warning, turning staff on and off, staffing and removing them from administrative leave.
Over 90% of USAID’s foreign support awards were suddenly fired last week. The Trump administration is facing lawsuits for failing to pay nearly $2 billion for work done before foreign aid freezes. The case is currently in front of the Supreme Court.
This story has been updated with additional details.
