A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore funding for hundreds of foreign aid contractors who say they’ve been devastated by President Donald Trump’s abrupt — and in their view illegal — 90-day blanket freeze.
Restoring Accountability in Foreign Aid Programs
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, a Washington, D.C.-based appointee of President Joe Biden, said the Trump administration failed to account for the extraordinary harm caused by the broad-based halt to foreign aid.
“At least to date, Defendants have not offered any explanation for why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid, which set off a shockwave and upended reliance interests for thousands of agreements with businesses, nonprofits, and organizations around the country, was a rational precursor to reviewing programs,” Ali wrote.
“Absent temporary injunctive relief, therefore, the scale of the enormous harm that has already occurred will almost certainly increase,” the judge added.
Halting Contract Cancelations
Ali barred Trump’s top State Department and budget aides — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought — from implementing any contract cancelations or stop-work orders put into effect after Trump’s inauguration, at least while further litigation plays out.
The ruling effectively halts a central component of one of Trump’s Day One executive orders commanding his administration to freeze foreign aid for 90 days.
Addressing Arbitrary Actions
The judge concluded that the Trump administration appeared to act in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner by abruptly shutting off all foreign aid without considering consequences for businesses to whom that aid was awarded prior to Trump’s inauguration.
“There is nothing arbitrary and capricious about executive agencies conducting a review of programs,” he said. “But there has been no explanation offered … as to why reviewing programs — many longstanding and taking place pursuant to contractual terms — required an immediate and wholesale suspension of appropriated foreign aid.”
