Judge orders temporary reversal of Trump admin’s freeze on foreign aid
A federal judge has issued an order compelling the Trump administration to lift its three-week funding freeze on U.S. foreign aid. Judge Amir Ali made the ruling on Thursday in U.S. district court in Washington in response to a lawsuit brought by two health organizations that receive U.S. funding for programs abroad.
The Trump administration had argued that it needed to shut down funding for the thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) aid programs abroad in order to conduct a thorough review of each program to determine whether it should be eliminated. However, Judge Ali noted that the administration failed to provide a sufficient explanation for the “blanket suspension” of foreign aid programs before they were more thoroughly reviewed.
USAID, established in 1961 under the Kennedy administration, is an independent agency that works closely with the State Department to allocate civilian foreign aid. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has suggested that the agency could be abolished following its reorganization in the coming days, as stated in a letter to bipartisan lawmakers on February 3.
The ruling by Judge Ali will require the Trump administration to lift the funding freeze on U.S. foreign aid, allowing the programs to continue operating as usual. This decision will ensure that critical aid programs abroad can continue to receive the necessary funding to support their operations.
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Author: Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and more. Thank you to Emma Colton from Fox News Digital and The Associated Press for contributing to this report.
