What is USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development?

The main agency tasked with distributing U.S. foreign aid — USAID — is facing renewed scrutiny by the Trump administration, which has suggested it could drastically overhaul or even shutter the organization.

Here’s what to know about the agency.

What is USAID?

Created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, the U.S. Agency for International Development emerged from an effort to separate military and non-military assistance and revamp how the U.S. distributed foreign aid.

Kennedy argued that the U.S., as the wealthiest country on Earth, had a moral and financial obligation to provide foreign aid. It was also politically advantageous to the U.S. to fund projects in poorer countries, he said, to try to prevent the collapse of “existing political and social structures which would inevitably invite the advance of totalitarianism.”