US Federal Judge orders Trump administration to restore funding for foreign aid programmes

A federal judge has ordered Trump’s administration to immediately restore funding to US foreign aid and development programs and contractors who argued they’ve been negatively impacted by a 9-day blanket funding freeze.

The judge says the sudden freeze has resulted in sweeping damages on non-profits and other organisations that help carry out crucial US assistance internationally.

The court ruling marks a major setback for the Trump administration in its dismantling of the six decade old US Agency for International Development (USAID). US President Donald Trump and Tesla boss Elon Musk – who runs the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – accuse the agency of being out of line with their agenda.

The decision by the US District Court in Washington is the first to target what aid groups have described as a sudden and absolute cutoff of USAID funds for programmes abroad.

Contractors, farmers and suppliers in the US and around the world were cutoff from hundreds of millions of dollars in pay for work already done. It’s also forced wide-scale layoffs and furloughs.

Judge Amir Ali delivered the temporary verdict in a lawsuit brought forth by two organisations, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council, who represent health organisations receiving US funds for work abroad.

Ali noted that the Trump administration argued it had to shut down funding for the thousands of USAID aid programmes abroad to conduct a “thorough review” of each programme individually, and decide on whether or not it should be eliminated.

Judge Ali was not convinced, saying “[the Trump administration] have not offered any explanation for why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid, which set off a shockwave and upended contracts with thousands of nonprofit groups, businesses and others

Lawyers for the administration had failed to show they had a “rational reason for disregarding the countless small and large businesses that would have to shutter programmes or shutter their businesses altogether,” added Ali.

The ruling also bars US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other Trump officials from enforcing stop-work orders that the Trump administration and Musk have sent to the companies and organisations carrying out foreign aid orders.

Earlier on Thursday, a judge in a separate case over the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID and US aid programmes abroad said that his order halting the Trump administration’s plans to pull all but a fraction of USAID staffers off the job worldwide will stay in place for at least another week

US District Judge Carl Nichols ordered the extension after a nearly three-hour hearing, much of it focused on how employees were affected by Trump and Musk’s abrupt orders.

Thousands of USAID and humanitarian workers face the risk of losing their jobs as the Musk-run DOGE looks to continue slashing “unnecessary spending” and prioritise cost-cutting initiatives.