Jeremy Lewin

Jeremy P. Lewin is an American political appointee who is serving as Director of Policy Planning since August 2026. He had served acting under secretary of state for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom. He has been affiliated with the Department of Government Efficiency.

Early life and education Lewin attended Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, a private school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduating in 2015. He later received his BA from Dartmouth College and a JD from Harvard Law School. Lewin authored memos detailing the decommissioning of the agency, including one titled "USAID's Final Mission"; shortly after, remaining staff were fired.

In June 2025, Lewin waived nine mandatory anti-fraud and counterterrorism safeguards in an effort to expedite a $30 million award to the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

In late June 2026, news media outlets reported that Lewin would leave the State Department for the White House, to become deputy assistant to the president and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council. A few days later, on July 2, 2026, Politico reported that the planned move "was delayed," following a campaign against Lewin by far-right political activist Laura Loomer, and that he would remain at State instead.

Controversy In April 2025, Rolling Stone published an investigation based on interviews with at least ten people who knew Lewin, including a woman who had made a police complaint alleging Lewin threatened her with a knife and others who alleged that Lewin had assaulted a private school classmate and made racist remarks.