US judge temporarily lifts funding freeze on aid programmes

A federal judge has temporarily lifted a freeze on funding to US aid and development programs ordered by President Donald Trump’s administration, court documents seen by AFP on Friday showed.

Judge Amir Ali, who was appointed by Joe Biden in November, prohibited the Trump administration from “suspending, pausing, or otherwise preventing” foreign assistance funds, according to the Thursday ruling.

The Trump administration has frozen foreign aid funding, ordered thousands of internationally based staff to return to the United States, and begun slashing the USAID headcount of 10,000 employees to around only 300.

The new court order also stops the government from “issuing, implementing, enforcing, or otherwise giving effect to terminations, suspensions, or stop-work orders” in relation to existing contracts as of January 19, 2025.

Trump, who began his second term last month, has launched a campaign led by his top donor Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, to downsize or dismantle swaths of the US government.

The most concentrated fire has been on USAID, the primary organization for distributing US humanitarian aid around the world with health and emergency programs in around 120 countries.

USAID manages a budget of $42.8 billion — representing 42 percent of humanitarian aid disbursed worldwide.

Trump this week fired the independent inspector general for USAID, US media outlets reported.

Paul Martin’s dismissal came a day after his office issued a report critical of the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency, the Washington Post, CNN and others reported.