Federal judge orders Trump administration to pay millions for foreign assistance

Several nonprofit groups are set to receive millions in funding after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration had violated the terms of a temporary restraining order regarding freezing foreign aid issued two weeks earlier.

Judge Amir Ali, appointed during the Biden administration, strongly criticized the Trump administration attorneys during a hearing on Tuesday for not paying the groups for work completed before President Trump’s executive order on Jan. 20, which suspended all foreign aid for 90 days. Ali also issued an order enforcing the temporary restraining order from Feb. 13, stating that the groups must receive payment by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Plaintiffs presented evidence that the defendants failed to lift the suspension or freeze of funds as required by the temporary restraining order. The defendants did not refute this evidence, and during today’s hearing, they were unable to provide specific examples of releasing funds in compliance with the Court’s order,” said Judge Ali following the two-hour hearing.

Lawyers with the Department of Justice acknowledged that the Trump administration ignored the temporary restraining order, which prohibited them from freezing foreign aid funds since the order was issued. Instead, they argued that they should not be required to pay back the money because of “sovereign immunity.”

During an extended exchange with Ali, a DOJ lawyer struggled to answer basic questions about the Trump administration’s compliance with the temporary restraining order, which prevented the administration from freezing funds.

“I’m not sure why I can’t get a straight answer from you on this. Are you aware of an unfreezing of the disbursement of funds for those contracts and agreements that were frozen before February 13?” Ali asked. “Are you aware of steps taken to actually release those funds?”

“I’m not in a position to answer that,” DOJ attorney Indraneel Sur said.

“We’re 12 days in and you’re here representing the government…and you can’t answer me whether any funds that you’ve kind of acknowledged or covered by the court’s order have been unfrozen?” Judge Ali responded.

“All I can do, really, is say that the preparations are underway for the joint status report on compliance,” Sur said.

At one portion of the lengthy court hearing, Sur attempted to offer a legal justification for the Trump administration’s noncompliance, prompting a stern response from the judge about his order, the terms of which he said were “clear as day.”

“The purpose of this hearing is to understand and to hear arguments on the motion to enforce TRO. It is not an opportunity to re-litigate the TRO,” Ali said.

The DOJ filed a notice of appeal Tuesday.

A lawyer representing the nonprofits who brought the case argued that the lack of a response from the Trump administration amounts to defiance of the court order.

“What the court’s colloquy with the government has revealed is that the government has done nothing to make the flow of payments happen,” he said. “As far as we are aware, there’s been zero directives from the agency with respect to the unfreezing of funds.”