The National Endowment for Democracy has been forced to furlough most of its staff and halt support for “nearly 2,000 partners worldwide”
US President Donald Trump’s administration has frozen all funding to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the organization confirmed on Wednesday, corroborating earlier media reports of a “bloodbath” within the CIA cut-out.
Founded in 1983, the NED is officially a US State Department-funded nonprofit that provides grants to support democratic initiatives worldwide. However, over the years, it has faced allegations of covertly influencing political outcomes, with critics arguing that it has taken over covert functions previously handled by the CIA, particularly those aimed at overthrowing foreign governments.
“For the first time in the organization’s four-decade history, it has been unable to meet its obligations and has been forced to suspend support for nearly 2,000 partners worldwide,” the NED said in a statement on Tuesday.
The funding freeze is part of broader measures by the Trump administration to cut foreign spending. These efforts have also targeted the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington’s primary vehicle for funding political projects abroad. Trump has previously called for the agency to be shut down, describing it as being run by “radical lunatics.”
The NED argued that it should be exempt from Trump’s executive order, as its “funding is directly appropriated by Congress and is not considered foreign assistance.” However, the organization stated that “despite being exempt, access to these funds has been inexplicably cut off, forcing NED to halt all partner support and furlough the majority of its staff.”
The organization has long faced criticism for its role in supporting political movements that undermine sovereign governments. The Center for Renewing America, a think tank founded by Russell Vought, Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, released a policy paper on February 7 accusing the NED of serving as the “tip of the proverbial spear for heightened CIA and State Department efforts to foster political revolution in Ukraine.”
The report accused the NED of funnelling tens of millions of dollars to various Ukrainian political entities and anti-Russian interests, helping to “advance both the ‘Orange Revolution’ and the ‘Maidan Revolution’ that paved the way for the current Ukraine-Russia war.”
Earlier this month, Elon Musk, who heads Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and has been tasked with cutting federal spending, singled out the NED, calling it a “scam” and an “evil organization” that should be dissolved.
Since then, the organization has reportedly been “under siege” from Musk’s DOGE. “It’s been a bloodbath,” an NED employee told the Free Press, explaining that the organization has been unable to meet payroll or cover basic overhead expenses.
Meanwhile, a US federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in previously approved foreign aid, reportedly setting a deadline of 11:59pm Wednesday night for the funds to be disbursed.
