US judge issues deadline for Trump administration to pay foreign aid funds

By the end of Wednesday, a federal judge has ordered the US president’s administration to pay contractors and grant recipients of foreign aid.

Amir Ali, the judge who issued the order, is the third time the judge has ordered that officials release funds that were frozen after Trump placed a 90-day suspension on all foreign aid.

Judge Ali noted in Tuesday’s ruling that no indications existed that the administration had followed his previous orders.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which include nonprofit organizations and government-licensed businesses, claim that if the funds aren’t spent, they could have to shut down their businesses.

They also allege that the administration’s refusal to pay out the funds, which Congress had authorized, has infringed on federal law and the Constitution.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) could be disbanded, according to the complaint, because Congress established the independent agency in 1961.

Payments made under the court order are contingent on the date the judge issued the earlier temporary restraining order.

On Sunday, USAID said that all of its staff, except certain essential workers, would be put on paid administrative leave starting on Sunday. In addition, 1, 600 positions were eliminated.

On February 23, 2025, “individuals that are impacted will receive specific notifications with further instructions and details about their benefits and rights,” according to a Trump administration notice the following day.

The Trump administration has taken effective steps to dismantle the agency under the direction of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk — who has called USAID a “criminal organisation” and a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America” — has claimed the agency is rife with waste and fraud and pursues an ideological agenda.

Former USAID officials and humanitarian workers have warned that the organization’s collapse will harm millions of vulnerable people around the world and weaken US soft power.

“Eliminating US unique response capacity of crisis experts who help contain disease outbreaks, stabilise displaced populations – a shortsighted, high risk and frankly, stupid act”, Marcia Wong, a former deputy assistant administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, wrote on the social media platform X.

A judge also paved the way for the Trump administration to resume its 30-day-long plan to resign thousands of USAID employees from overseas.

“For overseas personnel, USAID intends a voluntary, Agency-funded return travel program and other benefits”, USAID’s website said in its notice.