US judge orders funding freeze on aid programmes lifted

WASHINGTON: A federal judge has ordered a temporary lift on a freeze on funding to US aid and development programmes ordered by President Donald Trump´s administration, court documents seen by AFP on Friday showed.

Judge Amir Ali, who was appointed by Joe Biden in November, prohibited the Trump administration from “suspending, pausing, or otherwise preventing” foreign assistance funds, according to Thursday´s ruling.

The Trump administration has frozen foreign aid funding, ordered thousands of internationally based staff to return to the United States and begun slashing the US Agency for International Development (USAID) headcount of 10,000 employees to around only 300.

This has put the work of USAID in some of the world´s poorest countries in doubt. The agency has an annual budget of $42.8 billion, representing 42 percent of humanitarian aid disbursed worldwide.

The new court order also stops the government from “issuing, implementing, enforcing, or otherwise giving effect to terminations, suspensions, or stop-work orders” in relation to existing contracts as of January 19, 2025.

The ruling said that the “stated purpose in implementing the suspension of all foreign aid is to provide the opportunity to review programmes for their efficiency and consistency with priorities.”