New Commission Launches to Chart Next Chapter of Foreign Assistance
PR Newswire
NEW YORK, July 14, 2026
Co-chaired by former Gov. David Beasley (R – South Carolina) and former Sen. Ben Cardin (D – Maryland), Rockefeller and Packard Foundations, along with other partners, launch initiative one year after USAID's closure.Independent Commission gets underway as new polling shows 8 in 10 Americans want aid reformed, not eliminated.With Brookings Institution and AEI support, Commissioners (former senior U.S. politicians and executives from across the political spectrum) will spend the next year building a blueprint for a more effective and accountable system of U.S. foreign assistance.NEW YORK, July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Rockefeller Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, along with other partners, announced today the launch of the new Commission on the Future of Foreign Assistance to reimagine a more effective, accountable, and widely supported system for delivering U.S. assistance around the world. Co-chaired by former Governor of South Carolina and Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the Honorable David Beasley, and the Honorable Ben Cardin, former U.S. Senator from Maryland, the ten-member Commission, composed of former members of Congress and former senior officials from across the political spectrum, is charged with developing a forward-looking blueprint for U.S. foreign assistance that will be released in 2027. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Brookings Institution will support the independent body's efforts to identify the reforms needed to strengthen foreign aid as a key pillar of U.S. foreign and national security policy, but also how a new approach could secure the widespread public support and backing needed to sustain its work going forward.
