Washington: A federal judge in Washington has issued an order requiring the Trump administration to release USD two billion in frozen foreign aid funds, amid an ongoing legal battle between the administration and government contractors responsible for implementing US foreign assistance programs. Judge Amir Ali ruled on Monday that Congress-not the president-owns constitutional power over foreign aid spending.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the ruling prevents the Trump administration from terminating or suspending grants and contracts for foreign aid between January 20 and February 13, the date of the initial temporary restraining order issued by the judge. However, the ruling allows the administration to review how the funds are spent in accordance with the law, as reported by ABC News.
The legal dispute stems from a lawsuit filed by government contractors after the Trump administration halted payments owed to them as part of its broader policy to freeze nearly all foreign aid and suspend the vast majority of programs run by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Just hours before the ruling, the US government announced the cancellation of 83 percent of USAID programs, most of which provide humanitarian assistance. This move aligns with the Trump administration's stance that a significant portion of foreign aid does not serve US interests.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on social media platform X that, "After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID. The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States." In January, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order freezing most US foreign aid for 90 days, citing the need to reassess overseas expenditures to ensure alignment with his "America First" policy.