Judge gives Trump admin two days to release

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (AP): A federal judge on Tuesday gave the Trump administration less than two days to release billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid, saying the administration had given no sign of complying with his nearly two-week-old court order to ease its funding freeze.

The lawsuit was filed by nonprofit organizations over the cutoff of foreign assistance through the US Agency for International Development and State Department, which followed a Jan. 20 executive order by President Donald Trump targeting what he portrayed as wasteful programs that do not correspond to his foreign policy goals.

Nonprofit groups and businesses that receive federal money for work abroad said the freeze breaks federal law and has shut down funding for even the most urgent life-saving programs abroad. Those USAID and State partners say the administration has stiffed them on hundreds of millions of dollars in money already owed, forcing them to lay off tens of thousands of staffers and pushing some organizations toward financial ruin.

U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali on Feb. 13 had ordered the administration at least temporarily to get funding flowing again, including to make good on its bills.