Today at 4:00 p.m., Randall Tobias officially resigned from the position of Director of Foreign Aid and Administrator of USAID for "personal reasons." In the wake of this news folks are left wondering why he resigned and what happens to the foreign aid reform agenda he just launched. There appear to be two camps emerging on the "why". Given the fact that very close aides to Tobias say they were shocked, -- including Deputy USAID Administrator Jim Kunder who, in his email to staff says, "today I received shocking news..." -- one camp believes it is truly very personal. Another camp notes that it was fairly common knowledge that Tobias did not plan on finishing out his term but that his decision to resign now was prompted by his fury over Congressman Tom Lantos' infamous "We Are Not A Potted Plant" berating at a recent House International Affairs Committee hearing.The more important question is what happens to the foreign aid reform agenda he launched just this year in real terms with the FY08 budget? Tobias' resignation comes literally on the day the House turned its attention from the war supplemental bill to the foreign operations budget. And there's a LOT of communication, demystification and outreach to key stakeholders that needs to happen to at least protect what is good in the foreign aid reform budget. With many foreign aid watchers already concerned with the subordination of long-term development investments to short-term political purposes and a centralization of decisionmaking in State that has marginalized USAID to date, putting Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte -- now Acting Director of Foreign Assistance -- as chief communicator on the issues may not be productive.Join in the dialogue -- what is the trajectory for moving foreign aid reform? What impact does Tobias' resignation have (if any) on the FY08 foreign operations budget? What is possible in the last year before an Administration change?
