The Carter administration was outraged by the murder of the ambassador and by the conduct of the Afghan government, and began to disengage from Afghanistan and express sympathy with Afghan regime opponents. The incident hastened the decline in U.S.–Afghan relations, causing the United States to make a fundamental reassessment of its policy. In reaction to Dubs' murder, the U.S. immediately cut planned humanitarian aid of $15 million by half and canceled all planned military aid of $250,000, and the U.S. terminated all economic support by December 1979, when the Soviet occupation of the country was complete. The Afghan government aimed to diminish the U.S. presence in Afghanistan and restricted the number of Peace Corps volunteers and cultural exchange programs. On July 23, the State Department announced the withdrawal of non-essential U.S. embassy staff from Kabul and the majority of the diplomats as security deteriorated, and the U.S. only had some 20 staff members in Kabul by December. Dubs was not replaced by a new ambassador, and a chargé d'affaires led the skeleton staff at the embassy.