Federal Judge Orders Trump Admin to Pay MILLIONS in Foreign Aid to Nonprofits

A federal judge has just ordered the Trump administration to pay millions of dollars in frozen foreign aid funds to nonprofits.

The funds were halted by President Trump’s 90-day pause on all foreign aid, leading to lawsuits from NGOs facing shutdown.

As part of one of these lawsuits, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, appointed by Biden (surprise, surprise), has now ruled that the Trump administration violated a temporary restraining order issued just a couple weeks ago.

Therefore, the judge has ordered that they must pay several nonprofit groups millions of dollars.

He’s given the Trump administration a deadline until 11:59 PM on Wednesday to pay it out.

Here’s the breaking news:

🚨 #BREAKING: Federal judge orders Trump administration to pay millions of dollars in "foreign aid" to nonprofit organizations – ABC

The ruling was issued by Judge Amir Ali, appointed by Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/7fU5lSrWPH

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 25, 2025

🚨BREAKING: Federal Judge rules the Trump Administration is required to pay MILLIONS in foreign aid to nonprofits. pic.twitter.com/VtqkMz7n6z

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 25, 2025

Per ABC:
Biden appointed Federal judge, Amir Ali, orders Trump admin to pay millions of dollars in "foreign aid" to nonprofit organizations.

He can 🖕🏼off pic.twitter.com/jD4mcHZl8U

— Sara Rose 🇺🇸🌹 (@saras76) February 25, 2025

ABC News reported:

A federal judge is ordering the Trump administration to dole out millions of dollars to multiple nonprofits groups, determining the Trump administration violated the terms of a temporary restraining order issued two weeks ago regarding freezing foreign aid.

Judge Amir Ali, a Biden-era appointee, excoriated Trump administration attorneys during a lengthy hearing on Tuesday over its failure to pay the groups for work they conducted prior to President Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order, which froze all foreign aid for 90 days. Ali also signed an order to enforce a temporary restraining order he signed on Feb. 13, ruling the groups must be paid by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.

“Plaintiffs submitted evidence that defendants have not lifted the suspension or freeze of funds as the [temporary restraining order] required. Defendants have not rebutted that evidence, and when asked today, defendants were not able to provide any specific examples of unfreezing funds pursuant to the Court’s TRO,” Judge Ali said after a two-hour hearing today.

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.”

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The Washington Post also covered the news:

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to pay hundreds of millions in foreign assistance funds that have been in limbo despite his directive that such aid resume — action targeting President Donald Trump’s broad pause in aid, which has led to chaos globally and dire warnings about escalating famine.

U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali gave the government until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday to fulfill its contractual obligations and restart payments to contractors whose work in impoverished parts of the world had been largely stopped during an ongoing legal battle. Administration officials must also provide examples of communication sent to partners on the ground about resuming assistance, Ali ruled.

His order applies to work done before Feb. 13.

Aid groups that are plaintiffs in the case provided evidence that the government has not lifted its suspension of funding, Ali said, and the defendants did not rebut that Tuesday.

During the contentious, 90-minute hearing, Justice Department lawyer Indraneel Sur told Ali he was “not in a position to answer” whether the Trump administration had taken needed steps to allow the assistance to begin moving.

“I don’t know why I can’t get a straight answer from you,” Ali responded. “We are now 12 days in. You can’t answer me whether any of the funds … covered by the court’s order have been unfrozen?”

The total amount owed to organizations by the U.S. Agency for International Development was not immediately clear, but one development group, DAI Global LLC, said in court filings that it is owed more than $115 million. Separately, the U.N. World Food Program — the largest distributor of food aid — is owed more than $820 million, officials confirmed this week.

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No word yet from President Trump or his administration on the ruling, but I sense an appeal incoming…along with another impeachment filing against yet another activist federal judge overstepping his bounds.

Here’s a good question:

Liberal judge orders the fraudulent payments to continue. A another case of Judicial Overreach.

Which NGOs is this judge linked to?

The other judges with similar orders all benefited from the USAID fraudulent payments, either directly or through their families.@realDonaldTrump… pic.twitter.com/t4sDwbttAu

— SeekingTruth (@envisionalt7) February 25, 2025