Some staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development describe racing the clock to try to push out promised funds for surviving global aid programs, ahead of USAID's last day as an independent agency. Tuesday marked USAID's official disappearance, with its small slice of surviving programs absorbed into the State Department. Secretary of State Marco Rubio marked the day by declaring there was “little to show” from the aid agency's six decades of work. Supporters point to millions of lives saved, and countries and individuals lifted out of poverty. A new Lancet story estimates 91 million lives saved by USAID in the first 20 years of this century alone.
