State Department drops rules that would have banned discrimination in foreign aid

The US State Department has withdrawn two proposed rules that would have banned discrimination in how it distributes foreign aid. This means aid recipients will not be legally required to prevent discrimination based on specific grounds.

The State Department had proposed specific contract terms to prevent foreign aid from being used in discriminatory ways. By withdrawing these rules, the department is signaling that it will not impose these specific anti-discrimination requirements on aid recipients. This leaves it up to individual aid programs or existing general laws to address discrimination.