The United States has lifted a pause on food donations, the U.N. World Food Programme said, ending a suspension that an aid watchdog on Monday warned had left 500,000 metric tons of food currently at sea or ready to be shipped in limbo.

In an effort to save the Food for Peace program amid the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, farm-state Republicans have proposed to move the program to the Agriculture Department.

Experts worry that the abrupt disruption to foreign assistance is having serious consequences that threaten the U.S., its allies, and the world’s most vulnerable.

The US has lifted a food aid suspension, allowing the shipment of 500,000 metric tons of stalled donations to resume.