A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to pay tens of millions of dollars in foreign aid, just one day after the Supreme Court rejected the president’s request to keep the funds frozen.
According to The Washington Post, U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali ordered the administration to begin repaying at least a portion of the nearly $2 billion it owes to contractors and aid groups for work completed by 6 p.m. Monday.
The court specifically ordered the government to turn over the outstanding balances owed to the plaintiff organizations in the action, including the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, the Global Health Council, and Chemonics International, which had contracts or received grants from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department.
The court order entitles the groups to funds for grant drawdowns and invoices issued before February 13, 2025. In a joint status report filed Thursday, the administration stated that it had already provided the plaintiffs with approximately $70 million in funds owed since the freeze began on January 20.
“The government’s made a good showing by getting that,” Ali allegedly said during a four-hour hearing Thursday afternoon. “I do appreciate the government’s taking action on that front.”
During the proceedings, the administration claimed that presidents have broad authority in foreign policy and can overrule Congress on certain spending decisions, according to The Associated Press.
But Ali reportedly was skeptical of the argument, telling Justice Department attorney Indraneel Sur that it would be a “earth-shaking, country-shaking proposition to say that appropriations are optional.”
“The question I have for you is, where are you getting this from in the constitutional document?” he allegedly asked Sur.
Litigation in the closely watched case has moved at breakneck speed since last week, beginning with a Feb. 25 emergency hearing in which the plaintiffs presented evidence that the administration had failed to comply with a temporary restraining order (TRO) prohibiting the implementation of the all-encompassing freeze.
During those proceedings, Ali chastised the government’s attorney for claiming he was “not in a position to answer” whether any of the funds subject to the court’s order had been unfrozen. Ali, frustrated, ended the hearing with a series of onerous directions to enforce compliance with the temporary restraining order, instructing the administration to unfreeze funds for contract payments on work completed before February 13, 2025, by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, February 26.
Just hours before the payment deadline, US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay, halting the order until the full court could rule. In a surprising 5-4 decision, Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the court’s liberal bloc and denied the administration’s request to stay Ali’s order.
The majority did not provide detailed reasoning for its decision, but did request that Ali “clarify what obligations the Government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines.”
Ali reportedly stated that he will take the high court’s instructions “very seriously,” and ordered the plaintiffs to file financial information to assist him in determining specific payments by noon on Friday, according to NBC News.
The administration reportedly told the court that massive downsizing at USAID had created “a number of logistical problems” that could prevent the agency from having all of the funds ready by the Monday deadline. However, Sur stated that it would most likely take no more than 10 business days.
Ali’s current temporary restraining order is due to expire on Monday. The plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction, which would effectively keep the order in place until the case is decided on the merits.
The administration reportedly argued that an injunction was unnecessary because the blanket funding freeze had been lifted after officials had thoroughly reviewed each individual grant and contract.
The plaintiffs reportedly challenged the government’s assertion on Thursday.
“Defendants never lifted the moratorium on foreign assistance. Instead, they doubled down,” an attorney for the plaintiffs told Politico. “I don’t think here that the government has changed course.”
Ali will decide on the injunction in the coming days.
