One Year After Trump’s USAID Shutdown, Sherman & Meeks Lead All Foreign Affairs Dems to Investigate Aid-Related Deaths

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-32), along with House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (NY-05) and all House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats, introduced theEvan Anzoo Memorial Act, legislation to create a formal U.S. government account of the hundreds of thousands of deaths resulting from the Trump Administration’s dismantling of USAID and its lifesaving programs. 

For the past 20 years, the generosity of the American people through USAID has saved 91 million lives around the globe – at the cost of less than 1% of our federal budget. 

Yet, on January 24th, 2025, the Trump Administration abruptly shut down the lifesaving agency with a disastrous stop-work order that cut recipients around the world off from lifesaving care overnight. As a result, some 600,000 people have died in the past year after being cut off of lifesaving health and food aid provided by USAID – about two thirds of them children. One of those children was Evan Anzoo, a 5 year old boy born with HIV and kept alive through American health aid. After the Trump Administration cut of USAID programs overnight, Evan lost access to his HIV medication and died shortly after. A study by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health estimates that USAID’s continued dismantling will lead to 14 million additional deaths globally by 2030, including more than 4.5 million children under five. 

Despite top U.S. research institutions and publications reporting on hundreds of thousands of deaths occurring this year due to the Trump Administration’s USAID’s shuttering, Secretary Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that “no one has died” from USAID’s dismantling, and that “no children are dying on [his] watch.”

“Secretary Rubio came before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and lied to America when he claimed ‘no one has died’ from Trump’s USAID shuttering. That was a bold-faced lie – but if Republicans are so confident in his answer, they should support my legislation to have Congress’s watchdog issue an independent and formal review of how many people have died as a result of this evil policy,” Sherman said. “Instead, all House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans voted against this legislation in September because they are afraid of the truth.”

“Despite numerous denials and outright obfuscation by the administration - including Secretary Rubio’s claim that no one has died as a result of U.S. foreign assistance cuts - the reality is far more damning. Millions of preventable deaths will have occurred as a direct result of Trump’s evisceration of USAID. These cruel decisions demand real accountability and oversight. The Evan Anzoo Memorial Act will help ensure the American public and Congress confront the true human consequences of these policies,” said Ranking Member Meeks.

The American people overwhelmingly support providing lifesaving foreign aid around the world; they deserve to know the true impact of the Trump Administration’s deadly dismantling of USAID and whether the Secretary of State lied before Congress. The Evan Anzoo Memorial Act will create a formal report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress’s independent and nonpartisan watchdog, as to how many people around the world have died as a result of this policy.

All House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats joined Sherman and Meeks in introducing this legislation: Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10), Rep. Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Rep. Jim Costa (CA-21), Rep. Sarah McBride (DE-AL), Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Rep. Johnny Olszewski (MD-02), Rep. Bill Keating (MA-09), Rep. Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Rep. Dina Titus (NV-01), Rep. George Latimer (NY-16), Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-36), Rep. Greg Stanton (AZ-04), Rep. Julie Johnson (TX-32), Rep. Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Rep. Jared Moskowitz (FL-23), Rep. Gabe Amo (RI-01), Rep. Ami Bera (CA-06).

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