Under a Gulf Cooperation Council plan supported by the U.S., then-President Saleh agreed to a transition plan, and a new president, Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was elected February 2012. In May 2012, President Obama issued an executive order giving the Treasury Department authority to freeze the U.S.-based assets of anyone who "obstructs" implementation of the administration-backed political transition in Yemen. Houthi conflict (2015–present) In early 2015, after months of civil conflict, Houthi rebels took control of the northern part of Yemen, the besieged President Hadi resigned, and the government collapsed. The U.S. embassy closed in February 2015, and its personnel was evacuated. In March 2015, a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition joined forces with Yemen's government to fight the rebels. The conflict was ongoing as of 2021. In 2021, the Houthis took 25 hostages, including USAID workers, and occupied the embassy buildings. Foreign aid Over the past several fiscal years, Yemen has received on average between $20 and $25 million annually in total U.S. foreign aid. For FY2009, the Administration has requested $28.2 million in assistance for Yemen, an increase from its $20.7 million aid package in FY2008. Between FY2006 and FY2007, Yemen also received approximately $31.5 million from the U.S. Department of Defense's Section 1206 account. Section 1206 Authority is a Department of Defense account designed to provide equipment, supplies, or training to foreign national military forces engaged in counter-terrorist operations. The primary recipients of the 1206 support are the Yemeni Special Operations Forces [YSOF], the Yemeni Army 11th Brigade, and the Yemeni Ministry of Defense's primary logistics support command known as the Central Repair Base.U.S. economic aid to Yemen also supports democracy and governance programming. For almost five years, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) has run programs in Yemen's outlying provinces to support conflict resolution strategies designed to end revenge killings among tribes. In November 2005, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) suspended Yemen's eligibility for assistance under its threshold program, concluding that, after Yemen was named as a potential aid candidate in FY2004, corruption in the country had increased. Yemen became eligible to reapply in November 2006 and had its eligibility reinstated in February 2007, nearly six months after it held what some observers described as a relatively successful presidential election. U.S. training and other military assistance to Yemen, which totaled $176 million in 2010, dropped to $30 million in 2011 after then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh authorized armed action against