KFF poll reveals support for USAID, misconceptions on aid for global health

A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) shows two thirds of Americans believe axing the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will lead to more illness and death globally, almost half (47%) believe that dissolving it will reduce the deficit and help fund domestic programs, and respondents vastly overestimate how much the country spends on foreign aid.

The survey was conducted from February 18 to 25 among a nationally representative sample of 1,322 adults. It comes as the Supreme Court demanded that the Trump administration end its 90-day freeze on foreign aid.

On average, respondents guessed that foreign aid accounts for 26% of the federal budget, KFF said in a press release on the poll. Fifty-eight percent of those polled said the United States spends too much on foreign aid, but that percentage dropped to 34% when they were informed foreign aid accounts for just 1% of the federal budget. 

“After hearing that only about 1% percent of the federal budget is spent on foreign aid, the share saying the U.S. spends too much drops to 50% among Republicans, 39% among independents, and 15% among Democrats,” KFF said. 

Respondents were more in favor of foreign aid when it was called global health spending, and 67% of those polled said cutting USAID will increase illness and death in low-income countries, while 62% believe shuttering the agency will result in more humanitarian crises around the world.

The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage point for the full sample.

Supreme Court orders release of $2 billion in foreign aid

In related news, the Supreme Court today said the Trump administration must release its 90-day freeze on foreign aid funding, while directing the lower court to clarify the government’s duties. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the three liberal justices in the 5-4 vote. 

At the heart of the case is billions in foreign aid from the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID was one of the first targets of Elon Musk’s DOGE, the department of government efficiency, and has been effectively defunded since mid-February. 

In lawsuits against the federal government, groups said the funding freeze was unconstitutional because Congress had already approved the more than $2 billion in aid spending before Trump took office. 

These grants provided essential support to some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

The Global Health Council which was one of several organizations to sue the government, wrote of the freeze last week, “These grants provided essential support to some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. Cutting 92% of USAID’s awards and thousands more from the State Department is not just an abdication of responsibility—it is a deliberate, calculated act that will cause irreparable harm.”