Judge gives Trump administration deadline to release foreign aid

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday directed the Trump administration to unfreeze foreign aid funding within two days after indications that it was failing to comply with a previous court order to keep money flowing to aid groups around the world.

The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development must release the funds and pay a number of bills by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, Judge Amir H. Ali of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled.

Ali had ordered the Trump administration on Feb. 13 to keep disbursing the funds pending the outcome of a lawsuit brought by two health organizations affected by President Donald Trump’s executive order to pause most foreign aid for 90 days.

A hearing Tuesday focused on the growing body of evidence that the Trump administration was flouting that order and exploiting various legal workarounds to keep the foreign assistance from flowing.

Ali grew frustrated after pressing Indraneel Sur, a Justice Department lawyer, four times to cite any step the Trump administration had taken to release funds. But Sur appeared to draw a blank, taking long pauses before speaking and wandering back into legal arguments.

“I’m not sure why I can’t get a straight answer from you on this,” Ali said at one point. “Are you aware of steps taken to actually release those funds?”

“I don’t have the ability to recite those specific facts,” Sur said.

Lauren Bateman, a lawyer representing the groups that had brought the lawsuit, told the judge her clients believed that associates of Elon Musk had continued “vetoing” payments as recently as Feb. 23, and that workers in the State Department’s bureaus had flagged that they remained cut off from funding systems this week.

Bateman added that many of the workers who used to oversee grants and payouts had already been suspended or fired, leaving “hardly anyone” left to comply with the court’s orders.

Ali ordered the agencies to pay all invoices and “letter of credit drawdown requests,” on all contracts for work completed before his Feb. 13 order, including requests for reimbursement on grants and assistance agreements.

“Defendants shall take no actions to impede the prompt payments of appropriated foreign assistance funds, and shall take all necessary actions to ensure the prompt payments of appropriated foreign assistance funds,” he said.

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