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A USAID logo is visible amid the scattered remains of boxes and materials at a warehouse in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Feb. 21, 2025.

Last week, I stood outside the Ronald Reagan Building, the now-former headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, as employees carrying their belongings in boxes were forced to leave their beloved workplace for what may be the last time. We applauded each one for their service to the nation. Some were in tears as they left jobs that many told me were the most satisfying they ever had.

I was the head of USAID when we first moved into the Reagan Building back in 1994, more than three decades after President John F. Kennedy established the agency by executive order.

Memories flooded back to me last week as I watched what could be the demise of an institution that – perhaps more than any other – represents the American values we hold dear: our shared sense as humanitarians of what the richest democracy can and should do to help the rest of the world.

I’m proud to have led the agency that helped eradicate smallpox, saving lives and saving American taxpayers millions of dollars that the U.S. had been spending every year on inoculations. Our public-private partnership nearly eliminated polio. Our doctors and public health specialists helped stem the global spread of HIV/AIDS.

And I remember our previous battles to keep the agency alive after the end of the Cold War three decades ago, when some in Congress no longer saw the point of foreign aid.

Natasha LindstaedtFeb. 10, 2025

The arguments we made to Congress then were practical. We appealed not just to American generosity and democratic values, but also to our vital and strategic interests in preventing violent conflicts that would inevitably draw in far-costlier U.S. military resources. I testified before Congress numerous times, and we won the fight in 1996 when Republicans and Democrats passed legislation........

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