(TibetanReview.net, Mar05’25) – President Donald J Trump’s Jan 20 decision to pause all US foreign development assistance programmes for 90 days pending a comprehensive review has affected a major portion of US aid programs for Tibetans, but possibly not all of them, Sikyong (executive head) Mr Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said Mar 3.
Earlier, addressing the Tibetan public at the Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement in Karnataka state of India, the Tibetan Sikyong said the CTA had been informed by the US government on Mar 27 of the latter’s discontinuation of aid to the Tibetan exile community. US aid programs for Tibetans are administered under the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), and others.
Later, in an interview with the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia on Mar 4, the Tibetan Sikyong explained that he had since been informed by sources that the PRM aid for Tibetans might continue; that this aid program directly functions under the US State Department.
Referring to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s greetings to Tibetans on their Losar (New Year) celebrations which began on Feb 28, Sikyong Penpa Tsering called him a long-time supporter of Tibetans, noting his remark that Washington’s supportive policy on Tibet will remain unchanged.
The temporary global freeze of US assistance under USAID has led to a pause in the continuation of two ongoing major projects under the CTA’s Department of Religion & Culture and two other five-year projects that are in their 4th and 5th years of operation.
There is also the five-year USAID program titled “Strengthening Economic, Social, and Cultural Resilience of Tibetan Communities in South Asia”, estimated to be worth $23-24 million, launched in Nov 2024 which is yet to takeoff, with its future remaining uncertain.
The Trump administration plans to cut approximately $60 billion in foreign aid by terminating 92% of the USAID grants and contracts, effectively reducing its workforce from over 10,000 to fewer than 300 employees. However, the plans face serious legal and political hurdles. A looming US government shutdown on Mar 14, 2025, adds uncertainty to the implementation of these cuts.
On Mar 5, The Supreme Court rejected President Trump’s emergency request to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid as part of his efforts to slash government spending. By a 5-4 majority decision, the justices ruled that the Trump administration must follow through with those payments. The court is domination by Republican-President appointees, including three by Trump in his previous term.