U.S. Foreign Aid and USAID

Congress approved a $50 billion foreign aid package for 2026 — about 16% below 2025 levels but well above the Trump administration’s request — funding military assistance for Egypt, Israel and Taiwan alongside democracy programs, scholarships, embassy operations and global health and humanitarian aid. The bill partially reverses the Trump-era 2025 shutdown of the 64‑year‑old USAID and clawback of appropriated aid, a shift lawmakers like Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Tom Cole defended as fiscally responsible and strategic while experts warned it was needed to plug gaps in clinics, medicines and food that rivals such as China could exploit.

Congress has passed, and President Trump has signed, a 2026 spending bill that allocates about $50 billion for foreign aid through Sept. 30, partially reversing last year’s near‑dismantling of U.S. assistance programs and the shutdown of USAID. The package, a roughly 16% cut from 2025 levels but far above what the administration requested, funds military aid to Egypt, Israel and Taiwan along with democracy support, scholarships, embassy operations, and global health and humanitarian programs. Aid groups say the money will restore some access to clinics, medicines and food that was lost when the administration clawed back billions in 2025, while warning needs still outstrip the reduced budget. Key Republicans such as Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins and Rep. Tom Cole framed the bill as a fiscally 'realigned' way to enhance U.S. security, counter rivals like China and protect America’s global influence, signaling a bipartisan congressional course correction from last year’s deep cuts Congress had largely endorsed. Analysts note that, after a year of chaotic foreign‑aid retrenchment, this vote shows lawmakers in both parties are reasserting control over foreign assistance and soft‑power tools the White House had tried to gut.