"The Trump administration has stopped funding practically all U.S. government work supporting democracy, human rights and press freedom around the globe. President Trump issued an executive order last month halting congressionally appropriated foreign assistance, pending a review of the programs funded. That effectively shut down the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development. In addition, the National Endowment for Democracy — which says the vast majority of its funding is not categorized as foreign assistance — says it can't access its accounts at the Treasury Department, where Elon Musk has deployed staff from his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) entity. NPR reached out to the Treasury for comment but didn't receive a response. The endowment, which was created by Congress and is known as the NED, has had to furlough staff and suspend grants to about 1,800 partners in more than 100 countries. Its sister organizations, the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, have furloughed two-thirds of their Washington-based work forces and are closing down offices overseas, according to officials with the organizations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he wants to make sure U.S. assistance is aligned with the president's "America First" agenda." (Introduction)