US judge orders Trump administration to release billions in blocked foreign aid

A federal judge has given the Trump administration less than two days to release billions of dollars in US foreign aid, after the administration failed to comply with his nearly two-week-old court order to ease its funding freeze.

The lawsuit, filed by nonprofit organizations, challenged the cutoff of foreign assistance managed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

This action followed a January 20 executive order by President Donald Trump, which targeted what he described as wasteful programs that did not align with his foreign policy goals.

Nonprofit groups and businesses that rely on federal funding for work abroad argued that the freeze violated federal law, disrupting critical life-saving programs. USAID and State Department partners claimed the freeze had led to the withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars already owed, forcing many organizations to lay off tens of thousands of employees and driving others toward financial collapse.

US District Judge Amir H. Ali, who issued the initial order on February 13, had instructed the administration to release funding at least temporarily and fulfill its financial obligations. However, according to USAID staffers, nonprofit groups, and business partners, no payments had been processed, despite the court’s directive.

“I’m not sure why I can’t get a straight answer from you on this: Are you aware of an unfreezing of the disbursement of funds for those contracts and agreements that were frozen before February 13?” Judge Ali asked Indraneel Sur, a government attorney.

Sur, who represented the administration, responded, “I’m not in a position to answer that.”

The case was brought by the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council, which represent health organizations reliant on US funds for their operations abroad. The organizations had urged Judge Ali to hold the Trump administration in contempt of the earlier ruling.

This is the second instance in recent weeks where a judge has found that the Trump administration did not fully comply with a court order. In Rhode Island, US District Judge John McConnell similarly ruled this month that the administration had not fully unfrozen federal grants and loans, despite blocking sweeping plans for a pause on trillions of dollars in government spending.

By Vafa Guliyeva