Pakistani-American judge halts Trump’s aid freeze order
Stay tuned with 24 News HD Android App
A Pakistani-American federal district judge, Loren AliKhan, has temporarily blocked the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars in federal grants and loans, minutes before it was set to come into effect on Tuesday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The 41-year-old judge responded to a petition from the National Council of Nonprofits and public health organisations, leading to a temporary administrative stay. This ruling gained considerable attention, making headlines as breaking news across US national media, with analysts discussing its broader implications.
The executive order, poised to freeze several hundred billion dollars in funds, was set to take effect on January 28.
These funds were intended for distribution in the form of federal grants, loans and other forms to non-profit organisations, charitable work, climate improvement projects, transgender rights and other activities that do not align with President Trump’s agenda.
Judge Loren AliKhan's order to pause the plan until next Monday at 17:00 EST (22:00 GMT) came in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of organisations representing grant recipients. The lawsuit claims the White House's temporary freezing of already approved funding violates the law.
In the hours before the order was due to take effect, there was widespread confusion about which agencies and programmes would be impacted.
The acting head of the White House budget office had instructed agencies to "temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all federal financial assistance".
It said the move was intended to give the new administration time to assess what grants and loans were in step with their agenda.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump's plan to pause billions of dollars in US government funding was about being "good stewards of tax dollars".
Speaking to reporters in her first ever briefing, she said the pause in funding would allow governments to cut back spending for "woke" gender issues and diversity programmes. But it prompted confusion, as well as anger from opposition figures, on Tuesday as those who receive federal loans and grants - such as non-profits and research organisations - reckoned with the reality of swiftly losing funding.
Judge AliKhan on Tuesday said she was issuing a brief stay that would "preserve the status quo" until she can hold an oral argument, now set for Monday morning.
The White House directive could have impacted billions of dollars meant for federal programmes, from disaster relief to cancer research.
In a post on X, Diane Yentel, the president of the National Council of Nonprofits, the organisation that brought the lawsuit, celebrated the ruling.
"Our lawsuit was successful - the US district court is blocking OMB (Office of Management and Budget) from moving forward on its reckless plan to halt federal funding," she wrote.
In the lawsuit, her organisation wrote that Trump's order seeks to "eradicate essentially all federal grant programs".