We’re staying on top of the dissolution, evolution, evisceration — whatever you want to call it — of the U.S. Agency for International Development , which is on its way to being formally absorbed by the State Department.

Now that the Trump administration has presented a plan to Congress outlining the contours of the merger and the abolishment of USAID’s independence, we turned to a bipartisan group of experts for an in-depth analysis of what it all means. Hint: There is some rationale as to the “why” of the merger, but lots of questions over the “how.” For others, though, the “why” doesn’t make much sense given the fundamental differences between diplomacy and development. Check out the debate here .

Meanwhile, tiny aid-adjacent agencies haven’t escaped the attention of the administration, but they’re doing what they can to punch above their weight and fight back, with mixed results. The latest blow : hundreds of terminated grants and dozens of fired staff at the U.S. African Development Foundation — despite ongoing litigation.