Trump admin can't freeze foreign aid, but can decide how to spend it
A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump's administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid but stopped short of blocking the State Department from conducting a review of foreign aid payments.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali partially granted a preliminary injunction that blocks the Trump administration’s sweeping 90-day foreign aid freeze, requiring the Trump administration to pay for any foreign aid completed before Feb. 13.

The judge's decision effectively blocks the Trump administration from freezing foreign aid payments but allows the president to determine how the money is spent in accordance with the law, with the decision seemingly acknowledging the limitations of federal courts in restraining the president.
The judge also criticized the Trump administration for overstepping its authority by attempting to usurp Congress’s ability to appropriate aid, writing that the president has adopted “an unbridled view of Executive power that the Supreme Court has consistently rejected.”
The State Department and USAID must file a report by March 14 laying out how the government is complying with the order.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous







