A federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden ordered on Thursday that the Trump administration temporarily lift a funding freeze that has led to the shutdown of U.S. aid overseas. Concretely, judge Amir Ali issued the ruling late Thursday, upholding a lawsuit introduced by two health organizations getting funding from the U.S. abroad.
The Trump administration has not "offered any explanation for why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid, which set off a shockwave and upended" contracts with groups across the world "was a rational precursor to reviewing programs," Ali said, making reference to the government's argument about needing to freeze the program to review which should be kept and which discarded. The ruling applies to existing contracts before Trump's executive order.
