The cancellations were official following the state department’s six-week review, Rubio said in a post on his personal account on X on Monday.

They reflected contracts that “spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the US,” Rubio said.

“We intend for the remaining… programmes we are keeping (approximately 1,000) to now be administered more effectively under the state department,” he said, and thanked the department of government efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk.

Republican US President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid payments on his first day in office. Aid groups have reported chaos and confusion. Thousands of staff have been placed on leave or fired.

Trump has tasked close adviser Musk with dismantling USAID as part of a push to shrink federal government.

Meanwhile, US foreign aid organisations have sued Trump’s administration over its funding freeze and say they are owed more than US$671 million for past work. A federal court has ordered the funds be paid by a Monday deadline.

For programmes where the initial cuts have been reversed, some foreign aid groups said that, as of last week, restored funds had yet to arrive.