In another setback for President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, Judge Amir Ali issued the order Thursday. A judge has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily lift the funding freeze that has shut down U.S. aid and development programs abroad. In another setback for President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, Judge Amir Ali issued the order Thursday in a lawsuit brought by companies that receiving U.S. funding for programs abroad.
Trump froze almost all foreign aid in late January, a decision that has devastated foreign aid contractors. In the order, Ali said the Trump administration did not take into account the “extraordinary harm” caused by freezing foreign aid. The judge also hit out at the administration’s lack of explanation “for why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid” was brought in.
Ali added that the move “set off a shockwave and upended reliance interests for thousands of agreements with businesses, nonprofits, and organizations around the country.”. The ruling was the first to temporarily roll back a Trump administration funding freeze on foreign assistance that has forced USAID and State Department contractors around the world to stop providing humanitarian aid and other assistance and lay off staff, paralyzing much of the world's aid delivery networks.
The order allowing funds to flow again applies to existing contracts before Trump issued his January 20 executive order declaring a freeze on foreign assistance. Trump called much of U.S. aid out of line with his agenda. Earlier Thursday, a judge in a separate case over the Trump administration's dismantling of USAID and U.S. aid programs abroad said that his order halting the Trump administration's plans to pull all but a fraction of USAID staffers off the job worldwide will stay in place for at least another week.
