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Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered an immediate stop to the flow of almost all U.S. foreign assistance Friday pending a review, according to an internal State Department cable obtained by NBC News.
The directive sent to all consular and diplomatic posts follows President Donald Trump’s executive order Monday pausing new obligations and disbursements of foreign aid pending reviews “for programmatic efficiency and consistency” with U.S. foreign policy, within 90 days of the order.
The memo stipulates that U.S. departments, agencies and entities “shall not provide foreign assistance funded by or through the Department and USAID without the Secretary of State’s authorization or the authorization of his designee.”
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Rubio issued a waiver for foreign military financing for both Israel and Egypt, but no other countries were specifically mentioned in the cable. Rubio spoke with both his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts Thursday ahead of the directive.
A waiver was also approved for “emergency food assistance and administrative expenses, including salaries, necessary to administer such assistance.” The salaries of U.S. direct-hire employees and locally employed staff also received a waiver on a “temporary basis.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel and Egypt are among the top recipients of U.S. foreign aid. Israel receives roughly $3.3 billion annually in U.S. assistance. Egypt receives about $1.5 billion each year.
Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal this month after 15 months of war that has killed thousands of people in the Gaza Strip and left uncertainty around the future of hostages held captive by Hamas.
It is not immediately clear if Rubio’s directive will hold up under U.S. law.
“To impound these funds would be unconstitutional. Absolutely,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Friday in response to the announced freeze.
The directive calls for the director of policy planning to develop “appropriate review standards” in conjunction with the director of the Office of Foreign Assistance as well as other relevant departments and agencies within 30 days.
A governmentwide comprehensive review of all foreign assistance “shall be completed, and a report shall be produced to the Secretary of State for his consideration and recommendation to the President” within 85 days, the memo states.
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According to the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance, its foreign assistance request is less than 1% of the total federal budget.
Trump has frequently railed against U.S. foreign assistance, cutting funding to various United Nations programs during his first term, and often criticizing funding to Ukraine on the campaign trail last year.
Rubio, who was confirmed by the Senate as secretary of state in a 99-0 vote on Monday, is expected to make his first overseas trip late next week to Central America, where Panama will be one of his first stops. He is also expected to make stops in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, according to a State Department spokesperson.
Guatemala and El Salvador were some of the countries that the State Department temporarily cut aid to under Trump’s direction during his first term.
Abigail Williams is a producer and reporter for NBC News covering the State Department.
Zoë Richards is a politics reporter for NBC News.
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