Take Action to Reverse Effects of Devastating USAID Cuts in Afghanistan

Take Action to Reverse Effects of Devastating USAID Cuts in Afghanistan I am writing regarding the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan following the 2025 termination of USAID assistance programs there. The impact has been severe and documented. Refugees International’s recent research attributes at least 161 preventable deaths among Afghan women, newborns, and children to the loss of access to health services following the withdrawal of U.S. assistance.  Humanitarian funding cuts have also forced the closure or reduction of services at hundreds of health facilities, leaving millions of Afghans with reduced access to local health care.  Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate: approximately 17.4 million Afghans are projected to face severe hunger in 2026, while nearly 3.7 million children are expected to require treatment for acute malnutrition. I recognize the administration’s stated concern that aid has been diverted or otherwise benefited the Taliban. That concern has substantial documentation behind it. A 2025 SIGAR report found that the Taliban uses regulatory power, pressure on implementing organizations, demands for payments, and other means to influence where humanitarian assistance goes and who benefits from it. SIGAR also documented weaknesses in the systems used to monitor and prevent such diversion. But these findings do not necessarily argue for eliminating humanitarian assistance altogether. A complete cutoff does not distinguish between aid that is vulnerable to diversion and aid that reaches people in need; it removes assistance from intended recipients along with the assistance that may be diverted. A better response would be to restore carefully targeted humanitarian assistance while imposing stronger, enforceable safeguards against Taliban interference and diversion. I’m writing to ask that you: 1. Support the use of FY2026 International Humanitarian Assistance (IHA) funding for carefully controlled humanitarian programs in Afghanistan.Congress appropriated $5.4 billion to the global IHA account for FY2026, more than twice the administration’s $2.5 billion request. Because the account is global rather than specifically allocated to Afghanistan, I ask that you urge the administration to use a portion of these already-appropriated humanitarian resources for Afghanistan, with appropriate safeguards against diversion. 2. Introduce or cosponsor legislation establishing a sustained framework for Afghanistan humanitarian assistance with mandatory monitoring and anti-diversion requirements. Such legislation could require meaningful oversight of how assistance is delivered, regular reporting to Congress, and mechanisms to suspend or redirect funding when diversion or Taliban interference is identified. This would address the oversight weaknesses documented by SIGAR while preserving assistance for Afghans in need. SIGAR’s findings make clear that Taliban interference is a legitimate concern. They also demonstrate why stronger oversight and accountability are necessary. The appropriate response to a documented diversion problem should be to make humanitarian assistance harder to divert—not to eliminate assistance to the people who depend on it. Restoring carefully controlled aid with real oversight addresses both the humanitarian emergency and the legitimate diversion concern. Continuing the current approach addresses neither. Thank you for your attention to this matter.