A federal judge determined on Thursday that the Trump administration has not fully complied with a court order pausing the freezing of foreign assistance grants and contracts. The ruling came after U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ordered the administration to permit the disbursement of U.S. foreign aid following claims from federal contractors who challenged an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which halted nearly all foreign assistance. Judge Ali concluded that the administration’s “blanket suspension of congressionally appropriated foreign aid” had inflicted irreparable harm on the contractors and likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
Despite a notice of compliance earlier this week, where the administration claimed that the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development had reviewed the terminated contracts and grants and deemed them permissible under contract terms, Judge Ali suggested on Thursday that the administration was not fully adhering to his court order to halt the funding freeze. He implied that the administration was attempting to find justifications for pausing large amounts of aid instead of abiding by the order.
According to Judge Ali, the administration has failed to present evidence refuting the claim that the blanket suspension of foreign aid would cause irreversible harm or that it had fully assessed the potential implications of the aid pause on those who rely on it. While the judge expressed readiness to consider any arguments or evidence at a preliminary injunction stage, he mandated that if the administration continued the blanket suspension, it must cease it immediately, stopping short of holding them in contempt.
A spokesperson for the White House did not provide an immediate comment on the matter. The executive order signed by Trump on the day of his second inauguration paused all “foreign development assistance” funding for a period of 90 days, directing federal department and agency heads to halt new obligations and disbursements of aid to foreign countries and non-governmental organizations. Shortly after being confirmed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered a near-complete stop to foreign assistance funded through the State Department and USAID.
This case of foreign aid suspension is not the first instance in Trump’s second term where the administration has been found to be in violation of a court order. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the administration had breached an order halting a wide federal funding freeze, which included pauses to foreign aid as well as domestic grants and loans. The memo initiating that freeze, issued by the Office of Management and Budget, was rescinded towards the end of January.
