Trump Admin Cut Funds For Flood Prediction Tool In Nepal Before Recent Disaster

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The Trump Administration last year stopped funding a vital flood prediction program in Nepal as part of massive federal grant cuts proposed by the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency. Nearly a year and a half later, more than 1,000 people were killed by flooding in the south Asia country. 

Among the foreign aid funds that Congress approved to slash was the SERVIR-Hindu Kush Himalaya program, a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The tool aimed to "address critical challenges in climate change, food security, water and related disasters, land use, and air quality," according to its website, which states the program concluded in January 2025. However, its unclear whether the DOGE cuts directly led to the program's suspension. 

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A State Department spokesperson told CNN that the tool's services remain available through the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development and that the U.S. still supports flood-prevention programs in Nepal.

Jeremy Konyndyk, who formerly served as the director of USAID's Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance under the Obama Administration, first noted the connection on Friday after hundreds of people were killed in flooding along the Nepal-China border. 

"DOGE famously used keyword searches for terms like 'climate to terminate federal grants," he said, referring to DOGE employees' use of AI during the process. 

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