WASHINGTON (Diya TV) – President Donald Trump exceeded his constitutional authority by freezing nearly all U.S. humanitarian and development spending abroad, a federal judge ruled Monday. The decision prevents the administration from withholding tens of billions of dollars appropriated by Congress for foreign aid. However, Judge Amir H. Ali stopped short of requiring the administration to reinstate thousands of canceled aid contracts.
Ali’s ruling came just hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the completion of a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), reducing its programs by 83%. The remaining programs will now operate under the State Department, Rubio said in a post on X. He credited the effort to Trump political appointees and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Trump’s January 20 executive order halted foreign assistance funding and initiated a review of aid programs, arguing that much of the spending was wasteful or aligned with a liberal agenda. Rubio confirmed Monday that the review had ended, eliminating 5,200 of USAID’s 6,200 programs. He described many of these initiatives as failing to serve U.S. national interests and, in some cases, harming them.
Critics, including Democratic lawmakers, argue the cuts are illegal, as such decisions require congressional approval. Ali’s ruling underscored this point, emphasizing that the power to allocate foreign aid lies with Congress, not the president.
“The constitutional power over whether to spend foreign aid is not the President’s own — and it is Congress’s own,” Ali wrote, adding that Trump’s interpretation of executive authority had been consistently rejected by the Supreme Court.
Ali ordered the administration to pay approximately $2 billion in overdue payments to aid groups and businesses by mid-February, at a rate of at least 300 payments per day. However, he declined to reinstate contracts, leaving the decision to the administration. The lawsuit had originally been filed by the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council, which challenged the funding freeze.
Despite claims from the administration that life-saving programs continued to receive funding, USAID staff and partner organizations reported that all agency payments were cut off until recently. They also alleged that DOGE disabled USAID’s payment system.
The Supreme Court previously rejected the administration’s appeal in this case. The ruling comes amid growing concerns over the impact of the cuts, which many say signal a fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy.
“The patterns that are emerging is the administration does not support democracy programs, they don’t support civil society … they don’t support NGO programs,” said Andrew Natsios, who led USAID under former President George W. Bush. “So what’s left?”
Republicans have advocated for a narrower interpretation of U.S. national interests in foreign assistance. The restructuring of USAID reverses decades of bipartisan policy that framed humanitarian aid as a tool to stabilize regions, build alliances, and promote goodwill.
A court filing earlier this month revealed that the State Department planned to cut more than 90% of USAID programs, though Rubio provided a slightly lower estimate. In the aftermath of Trump’s order, transition team members, including Pete Marocco and Musk, enforced widespread layoffs, halted USAID payments overnight, and terminated thousands of aid contracts.
The sudden policy shift has left many USAID employees and contractors stranded overseas, awaiting back payments and travel assistance. The administration has set an April 6 deadline for employees abroad to return to the U.S. on government funds. Staff members argue that the short timeline makes it difficult to relocate families, sell homes, or secure housing in the U.S. after years of working abroad.
