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An American judge ordered Thursday Trump administration To pay at least part of the almost $ 2 billion in foreign aid due for projects previously completed at 6 pm on Monday, an expedited ruling that occurs only one day after the Supreme Court rejected the application of the Trump administration to continue its freezing.
The decision of the Judge of the United States District Court, Amir Ali, arrived after a judicial hearing of more than four hours on Thursday, where he interrogated both parties in their proposed payment plans, and a time frame for the government to comply with the $ 1.9 billion in foreign aid owed that has been completed.
At the end of the hearing, Judge Ali ordered the Government to pay at least part of the $ 1.9 billion for Monday at 6 pm
“I think it is reasonable to obtain the bills of the plaintiffs paid at 6 pm on Monday,” Judge Ali said. “What I will order today is the first concrete step that the plaintiffs have their invoices paid … (and) the work completed before February 13 that will be paid before 6 pm on Monday, March 10”.
Scotus Rules on almost $ 2 billion in frozen USAID payments
Susan Schorr, from DC, has a sign of anti -cobic musk and an American flag in protest in front of the headquarters of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on February 3, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Pete Kiehart for Washington Post through Getty Images)
That order previously established a deadline of February 26 at 11:59 pm for the Trump administration to pay its pending debt to foreign aid groups.
The Department of Justice had argued that the timeline was “impossible” to comply, a notion apparently rejected by Judge Ali during Thursday’s hearing.
At one point, a lawyer from the Department of Justice requested more time to obtain payments, citing the potential difficulty to obtain financial transactions approved or completed during the weekend. In response, Judge Ali said the government had successfully paid more than $ 70 million in the hours between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, pointing out that this “should also be possible.”
Judge Ali emphasized during the hearing on Thursday that the deadline of February 26 that he previously established for the Government to pay the $ 1.9 billion in foreign aid had passed.
Now, he said, the work that the Supreme Court gave is to clarify the role of the government in the refund: the instructions, he said, tends to take “very seriously.”
Local residents carry food bags distributed by USAID in northern Kenya in 2022. Trump has frozen most foreign aid since he assumed the position, which caused a large number of judicial challenges and efforts to recover funds for complete projects. (AP/Desmond Shot)
The Decision of the Supreme Court 5-4 a day before sent the case to the Federal Court of DC, and Judge Ali, Oh, hash the details of what should be paid and when. Judge Ali moved quickly after the decision of the Superior Court, ordering both sides to court Thursday to weigh the plausible payment schedules.
But the first hours of Thursday’s hearing focused more on the role and revision of the government of all contractors and foreign aid subsidies, that Trump administration lawyers told Judge ALI that they had already completed and made final decisions.
Stephen Wirth, a lawyer’s lawyer, opposed the “dizzy” review of the administration of contracts and subsidies, arguing that “they had a goal: to terminate as many contracts as possible.”
The lawyers were also pressed on whether the Trump administration can legally move to finish projects whose funds are assigned and appropriate by Congress.
This could eventually kick the problem to the Supreme Court.
Scotus Rules on almost $ 2 billion in frozen USAID payments
The Judge of the Supreme Court Samuel Alito, the Judge of the Supreme Court Clarence Thomas, the judge of the Supreme Court Brett M. Kavanaugh, the judge of the Supreme Court Amy Coney Barrett, the president of the Supreme Court John Roberts, the justice of the Supreme Court Elena Kagan and the justice of the Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor attends the inaugural ceremony of The opening ceremony of 2025, in the Capitol of the Captain of the United States Court. (Ricky Carioti /The Washington Post through Getty Images)
In question in the case it was the speed with which the Trump administration needed to pay the almost $ 2 billion owed to help groups and contractors for completed projects financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), at a time when the Administration has issued a general freezing over all foreign expenses in the name of the “efficiency” of the government and the elimination of waste.
President Donald Trump He has declared plans to reduce 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts and reduce additional $ 60 billion in foreign aid expenses.
In a presentation of the Supreme Court, The United States general lawyer, Sarah Harris, said that although the claimants were probably “legitimate”, the time Judge Ali gave them to pay the pending invoices “was not logistics or technically feasible.”
But the plaintiffs did not agree: rather, they said, the Trump administration had moved too fast to dismantle the necessary systems to send payments to foreign aid groups in the first place, and to purge the many USAID employees who could have facilitated a softer and faster refund process.
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The plaintiffs have argued that the lower court judge had ordered the Trump administration to begin to make the foreign aid payments owed more than two weeks ago, a deadline that said that the government simply did not meet, or even took measures to meet, indicating that the administration had no plans to comply with that request.
