U.S. District Judge Amir Ali has given the Trump administration a hard deadline to make outstanding foreign aid payments worth $1.9 billion to U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) partners. Concretely, it has given it until 6 p.m. Monday following a Supreme Court decision regarding the ongoing legal battle over the Trump administration's freeze on foreign assistance funding.
The ruling comes one day after the Supreme Court rejected a request by the Trump administration to refrain from paying, effectively allowing Judge Ali's earlier order to stand. The case stems from lawsuits filed by several non-profit organizations, including the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council, which sued after the Trump administration froze foreign aid as part of a broader effort to cut federal spending.
The freeze forced USAID-funded organizations to halt aid programs and lay off workers worldwide.
During a four-hour hearing on Thursday, Judge Ali expressed skepticism over the Trump administration's defense of its actions, questioning whether the President had the constitutional authority to override congressional decisions on foreign policy funding, as The Guardian reports
"It would be an 'earth-shaking, country-shaking proposition to say that appropriations are optional,'" Ali said. He also demanded a "concrete" first step from the government, ordering the release of payments by the Monday deadline.
"During a 4-hour hearing, the government continued to insist that shutting down humanitarian assistance was both reasonable and lawful," said Allison Zieve, director of the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which is representing the groups, to Axios. In regards to Ali's decision, Zieve pointed out that "he also indicated that he will set a timeline for payment of others' overdue invoices and that plaintiffs "are hopeful that the judge will provide additional relief when he rules on the full scope of our preliminary injunction motion on Monday."
The Trump administration had previously indicated its intention to contest all legal decisions, but attorneys for the administration confirmed that $70.3 million in additional payments had already been certified and were expected to be processed shortly, as reported by Axios. They added that all legitimate payments owed to the plaintiffs would be completed within a maximum of 10 working days.
The legal clash centers around an executive order signed by President Trump on his inauguration day, which called for a drastic reduction in foreign aid. The freeze impacted more than 90% of USAID contracts, causing widespread disruption to aid efforts globally.
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