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Court orders Trump administration to restore USAID funding by 27 February

Trump administration should restore USIAD funding

District Judge Amir Ali of the District of Columbia ordered the administration of US President Donald Trump to resume payments to non-profit organisations that received funds from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) by midnight on 27 February.

This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the Washington Post and ABC News.

On 13 February, Judge Ali issued a temporary restraining order requiring the unblocking of USAID funding.

He noted that the organisations that are plaintiffs in the case provided evidence on 25 February that the US government had not yet resumed payments.

Justice Department lawyer Indranel Sur said he was ‘not in a position to answer’ whether the Trump administration had taken the necessary steps to unfreeze the funds. He added that the government would provide further details at noon on 26 February.

At the same time, Ali ordered the State Department to restore funding by 11:59 p.m. on 26 February and provide examples of messages sent to partners on the ground that aid had been unfrozen.

The total amount that USAID has to pay to its partners is unknown, but one of the companies, DAI Global LLC, has stated in court filings that it expects the government to pay more than $115 million.

Separately, the UN World Food Programme reported that USAID should provide it with more than $820 million.

According to the Congressional Research Service, in 2023, USAID allocated more than $40 billion to partners, with a significant portion of these funds going to partners around the world.

Suspension of USAID funding

As reported, at the end of January, the U.S. federal government agency USAID suspended funding for all programs and projects in Ukraine for 90 days to implement the State Department's directive to audit foreign aid.

However, it is currently unknown whether funding for at least some projects will resume. After all, American billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the US Government's Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), called USAID's work ineffective and has already announced the start of its liquidation.

USAID's Director of Security and his deputy were placed on administrative leave on Saturday, February 1, after they failed to provide access to the agency's secure systems to employees of the Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) under Elon Musk's leadership.

Subsequently, Musk shared a fake video claiming that USAID allegedly paid millions of dollars to Western stars to increase the popularity of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

After that, U.S. President Donald Trump appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). He stated that the Trump Administration would review USAID programs to determine which ones would be in the national interest and continue to operate.

All USAID hired personnel around the world have been furloughed since February 7. The only exceptions will be for critical staff, key management, and specially designated programs.