A federal judge blocked United States (US) President Donald Trump’s administration from freezing foreign aid funds and ordered the immediate restoration of funding for hundreds of contractors affected by the abrupt 90-day suspension.
On Thursday, February 13, US District Judge Amir Ali ruled that the administration cannot cancel aid contracts and awards that existed before Trump took office on January 20.
Two health organizations that depend on US funding for overseas programs filed the lawsuit, arguing that the freeze unlawfully disrupted their operations.
Ali criticized the administration for failing to justify the suspension. He stated that the freeze “set off a shockwave and upended reliance interests for thousands of agreements with businesses, nonprofits, and organizations across the country.”
He pointed out that officials claimed to review aid programs for efficiency but never explained why they needed a blanket suspension.
Trump’s administration has aggressively cut funding for agencies like the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and eliminated jobs across federal agencies.
He has also ordered mass layoffs of civil servants and top officials as part of his strategy to shrink the federal bureaucracy and replace key personnel with loyalists.
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, contributes to Negros Daily Bulletin, and maintains a personal blog on Medium.