The Trump administration is facing logistical challenges in complying with a court order to release nearly $2 billion in foreign aid funds by a judge's deadline. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly taking personal involvement in decisions regarding the termination of foreign aid contracts.
The administration argued in court filings that it would be difficult to pay out the funds by the deadline due to the need to implement new controls to confirm the legitimacy of contracts. This comes as part of a broader effort by the administration to freeze existing and future foreign assistance, impacting humanitarian and development work worldwide.
A temporary restraining order issued by Judge Amir Ali partially paused the funding freeze and required the revival of funding for contracts existing at the end of the Biden administration. Nonprofits and contractors claim they are owed hundreds of millions of dollars for work completed before the freeze was implemented in late January.
Despite the court order, recipients of the funding have accused the administration of failing to comply. At an emergency hearing, a Justice Department lawyer was unable to provide details on which programs had their funding restored or how the State Department and USAID were implementing the judge's order.
In response to the challenges, the administration argued that restarting funding for terminated or suspended agreements would take multiple weeks and was not as simple as flipping a switch. The judge issued a new order, emphasizing the need for payment of all completed foreign aid work by Wednesday night.
