A federal judge expressed frustration on Tuesday, highlighting concerns over the Trump administration's apparent disregard for his previous order to unfreeze billions of dollars earmarked for foreign assistance grants and contracts. This prompted the judge to establish a tight deadline for the State Department to begin disbursing the funds and to provide an explanation for the delay.
During a telephone hearing, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali became visibly impatient due to the lack of clear responses from the administration’s lawyers. Aid contractors have reported not receiving any payments from the State Department or the U.S. Agency for International Development since Ali issued an emergency order on February 13, halting a broad freeze on aid-related programs.
“I don’t know why I can’t get a straight answer from you,” the judge stated, after Justice Department attorney Indraneel Sur avoided answering whether the Trump administration had released any funds following the judge’s earlier order. After Sur implied that payments were being held up or canceled under individual contract terms, Ali expressed confusion over the government’s stance. “I guess I’m not understanding where there is any confusion here,” he remarked. “It’s clear as day.”
Ali also raised concerns about Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s order, issued five days after the restraining order, which paused $15.9 billion in foreign assistance grants. “That, again, is the very action that was held to be likely arbitrary and capricious,” Ali noted.
Earlier this month, Ali—an appointee of President Joe Biden—ordered an end to the blanket freeze after grant recipients and foreign assistance organizations warned of catastrophic consequences. He stated that the State Department’s freeze, executed by Peter Marocco, a Trump appointee overseeing USAID operations, likely violated the law.
The judge ordered the State Department to pay all aid contractors who completed work before his order by midnight Wednesday. He also demanded that the government submit to the court “any directive or guidance” regarding his order or about the suspension or termination of aid agreements. “I want those documents by noon tomorrow,” Ali insisted.
The judge holds the authority to summon Rubio or other officials to court or to hold them in contempt of court. While Ali refrained from such actions on Tuesday, he stressed that both sides must provide him with the names of officials knowledgeable about any ongoing disputes regarding compliance with the court’s order by Wednesday. In response to Ali’s ruling, the Justice Department promptly appealed his order to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ali’s ruling highlights yet another clash between the nascent Trump administration and the federal courts, which have repeatedly slowed or halted over a dozen key policy initiatives that President Donald Trump has attempted to implement via executive order.
