Trump Inches Closer to Judge's Hard Deadline Unfreeze Nearly $2B in Federal Funds

The Donald Trump administration is approaching a hard deadline given by a federal judge to unfreeze some foreign aid. Concretely, Judge Amir H. Ali gave until Wednesday midnight Eastern time to comply with the order and disburse funds pending the outcome of a lawsuit brought forward by two health organizations.

Parties took part in a hearing on Tuesday focused on evidence that the Trump administration was seeking to find workarounds to prevent that outcome, The New York Times reported. Judge Ali repeatedly asked the DOJ lawyer what steps the Trump administration had taken to release funds, with the lawyer failing to provide answers.

"I'm not sure why I can't get a straight answer from you on this," the judge reportedly said during a passage of the hearing. "I don't have the ability to recite those specific facts," said DOJ lawyer Indraneel Sur.

Judge Ali had ruled funds should be unfrozen after determining that the Trump administration did not offer "any explanation for why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid, which set off a shockwave and upended" contracts with groups across the world "was a rational precursor to reviewing programs," a reference to the government's argument about needing to freeze the program to review which should be kept and which discarded. The ruling applies to existing contracts before Trump's executive order. He ordered the agencies pay all invoices and "letter of credit drawdown requests" on all work completed before the February 13 order.

"Defendants shall take no actions to impede the prompt payments of appropriated foreign assistance funds, and shall take all necessary actions to ensure the prompt payments of appropriated foreign assistance funds," he said.

Judge Ali declined last week to hold the government in contempt of court for defying the order but has continued to press for more details. The deadline to comply ends today.