Ranking Member Shaheen Presses State Department Officials to Provide Transparency on USAID “Close-Out” Cost Waste

WASHINGTON - This week, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Eric Ueland, Chief Operating Officer and Performing the Duties of Administrator of USAID, and Jeremy Lewin, Senior Officer and Performing the Duties of Under Secretary of State for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs and Religious Freedom at the U.S. Department of State, requesting information from the Trump Administration on its plans to use $19 billion towards "close out" costs for USAID foreign assistance awards.

"I am writing to restate my hold on the Congressional Notification transmitted on April 20, 2026, which expressed the Agency's intent to fund as much as $19 billion in Congressionally appropriated funds to "close out" approximately 5,600 foreign assistance awards that were terminated by the Trump Administration," wrote the Ranking Member. "The Administration's plan to use upwards of $19 billion of previously appropriated funds is an extraordinary use of taxpayer dollars. Using billions of dollars to shut down U.S. foreign assistance programs-rather than to carry out the international development, health, security or economic work for which these funds were intended-demands the utmost scrutiny by Congress."

Ranking Member Shaheen reiterated the lack of transparency around Trump's Foreign Assistance Review and the 5,600 terminated foreign assistance contracts and awards cancelled by the Trump Administration.

"The State Department has still not sent to Congress the final list of approximately 5,600 terminated foreign assistance contracts and awards, including the rationale for the termination of each program, the award number, fund source and country(ies) impacted," continued the Ranking Member. "Members of Congress have yet to receive this vital information, despite repeated requests for more than one year."

Finally, Ranking Member Shaheen urged the Trump Administration officials to provide greater transparency with briefings to Congress and highlighted the scale of the cost to the American taxpayer.

"I request that the Department provide monthly briefings on the status of foreign assistance award close-outs and settlements and the status of remaining retirement and other Office of Human Resource and Talent Management cases," concluded the Ranking Member. "The astonishing level of taxpayer resources at risk due to the Administration's abrupt and illegal closure of USAID and termination of foreign assistance awards demands transparency. I look forward to your prompt response."

Full text of the letter is available HERE and provided below.

Dear Mr. Ueland and Mr. Lewin,

I am writing to restate my hold on the Congressional Notification transmitted on April 20, 2026, which expressed the Agency's intent to fund as much as $19 billion in Congressionally appropriated funds to "close out" approximately 5,600 foreign assistance awards that were terminated by the Trump Administration. I also request your response to questions related to these plans that were submitted by my staff on May 21, 2026.

The Administration's plan to use upwards of $19 billion of previously appropriated funds is an extraordinary use of taxpayer dollars. Using billions of dollars to shut down U.S. foreign assistance programs-rather than to carry out the international development, health, security or economic work for which these funds were intended-demands the utmost scrutiny by Congress.

In addition to the unanswered questions below, the State Department has still not sent to Congress the final list of approximately 5,600 terminated foreign assistance contracts and awards, including the rationale for the termination of each program, the award number, fund source and country(ies) impacted. Members of Congress have yet to receive this vital information, despite repeated requests for more than one year.

I request that you provide the list of terminated contracts and awards and promptly and fully respond to the below questions.

• Please provide a detailed list of the specific awards that have been settled, including the amount of the settlement costs as well as litigation costs for each award. Please update these costs monthly until all award terminations have been finalized.

• Including litigation costs, is it possible that the total cost could exceed $19 billion to settle all terminated awards?

• Please provide details on the $6.8 million in unsubobligated funds from Development Objective Grant Agreements (DOAGs) by fund, country and fiscal year.

• Please provide the list of USAID property closeouts, their disposition (lease terminated; property sold, donated, transferred to OBO) and cost of each closeout, as well as the list of the remaining 31 properties and their status (owned, leased and remaining time on lease).

Additionally, I request that the Department provide monthly briefings on the status of foreign assistance award close-outs and settlements and the status of remaining retirement and other Office of Human Resource and Talent Management cases.

The astonishing level of taxpayer resources at risk due to the Administration's abrupt and illegal closure of USAID and termination of foreign assistance awards demands transparency. I look forward to your prompt response.

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