The Trump administration is reportedly set to burn some 500 tons of emergency food instead of distributing it as it continues scaling back practically all foreign aid programs.
The Atlantic reported on Tuesday that the rations, which could feed about 1.5 million children for a week, are set to expire on Wednesday. The food was earmarked for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The rations in question are high-energy biscuits, which hold nutritional needs for children under 5. They are usually given out in scenarios where people have lost their homes and aid groups have not yet been able to set up kitchens.
The biscuits were stored in a warehouse in Dubai, but since the Trump administration halted practically all foreign assistance, they have not been distributed even though federal workers sent the leaders of USAID repeated requests to ship them while they were edible.
The outlet added that career staff could have handed the rations to the World Food Programme, but since Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) dismantled USAID, no funds or aid items can be moved without the approval of the new political leadership.
The latest person to hold that responsibility is Jeremy Lewin, a "law-school graduate in his 20s who was originally installed by DOGE." Officers who sent memos requesting approval never heard back from him.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May that aid would be sent before going bad, but the order to incinerate the biscuits had already been sent. The cost of destroying the food will be $130,000.
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