Court Orders Trump Administration to Restore Funding: USAID Foreign Contractors’ Accounts at Risk

A District Court in the District of Columbia has ruled that the Trump administration must pay the bills of foreign contractors of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The ruling applies to work completed by February 13, the result of a lawsuit by contractors who claimed that the president’s executive order and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s directive had halted funding.

The judge ordered the State Department and USAID to pay all bills by midnight on February 26. The deadline is set to restore funding that had been suspended for 90 days, which had negatively affected the work of foreign contractors.

The plaintiffs in the case argued that their projects were left without financial support because of the foreign aid freeze initiated by President Trump’s executive order. The funds were frozen under a directive issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, halting funding for critical international development projects.

In an emergency hearing Tuesday, a U.S. Justice Department lawyer was unable to provide specific details about the steps the Trump administration is taking to restore funding for foreign aid programs. This has raised concerns among contractors who have already suffered significant financial hardship due to the suspension of payments.

USAID had a budget of more than $40 billion in 2023, according to the report. Much of that money was channeled through U.S. agencies, which in turn distributed it to numerous foreign partners around the world. The funding freeze has directly impacted the ability of these agencies to deliver their projects.

The court previously ordered the Trump administration to temporarily lift a three-week funding freeze that had halted U.S. aid and development projects abroad. The decision was intended to minimize the negative impact on foreign contractors and ensure the continued funding of important international initiatives.

Thus, the new court ruling could be a crucial step in restoring USAID’s operations and restoring confidence among partners that the U.S. administration is committed to meeting its financial obligations. The implementation of this ruling would send an important signal to the international community about the stability and reliability of U.S. foreign aid.