Judge ordered the US to restore funding for foreign aid programs

A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to restore funding to hundreds of foreign aid contractors who argued they were adversely affected by a 90-day blanket freeze, according to a court filing late Thursday.

The order temporarily prevents the Trump administration from canceling foreign aid agreements and awards that were in place before Trump took office on January 20.

It was Trump’s first order to freeze funding for foreign aid.The decision came in a lawsuit brought by two health organizations that receive US funding for programs abroad.

U.S. District Judge Ameer Ali wrote in a filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that the stated purpose of suspending all foreign aid was to allow programs to be reviewed for effectiveness and consistency in priorities.

Trump has sought to dismantle government agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, as he embarks on a massive government restructuring and assigns cost-cutting to his tycoon, Elon Musk.

He said, at least so far, the defendants have offered no explanation that the complete suspension of all foreign aid appropriated by Congress, which would have been a shock to thousands of contracts with businesses, nonprofits and organizations across the country and eliminated dependency interests, was a reasonable pretext for reviewing the programs.

Trump has also ordered agencies to prepare for widespread job cuts and has begun laying off many new hires who do not have full job security.

Republicans have fired hundreds of civil servants and top officials at agencies in their first steps toward cutting bureaucracy and hiring more loyalists.