Since his first term in office, President Donald Trump has suspended much of the US foreign aid for review to ensure compliance with his America First policy. This move comes as the government tightens spending to combat budget waste.
Judge Amir H. Ali initially issued a temporary ban (TRO) on February 13, requiring the Trump administration to disburse loans and frozen contracts under presidential orders.
However, at the hearing last week, government lawyers argued that they were complying with the TRO, stating they still have the right to cancel or suspend contracts during the review process.
In a phone meeting on February 25, Judge Ali accused the Trump administration of showing no signs of complying with his orders. Reuters reported that Mr. Ali had issued a verdict forcing the White House to disburse all the aid before 23:59 on February 26, local time.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and companies with government contracts, said they had to lay off employees, shut down programs and face the risk of bankruptcy due to Mr. Trump's freezing of aid.
These organizations accused the US government of refusing to disburse tens of millions of dollars from the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) - Washington's main channel to finance projects abroad.
USAID, which spends about $40 billion a year on foreign aid, has become one of the first targets of the "government reform expert" Elon Musk and the newly established Ministry of Government Efficiency.
Both Trump and Elon Musk have accused USAID of widespread corruption and called for the agency to be dissolved.
