A U.S. federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to reverse its foreign aid funding freeze on the U.S. Agency for International Development’s global programming. But given the chaos that has defined the global halt to programming — accompanied by a trickle of opaque guidance from the administration — there are expectations that restarting programming could be far from straightforward.
Under the U.S. State Department’s stop-work order, there have been some waivers for lifesaving activities — such as HIV treatment services under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. But the power of this court order is that it supersedes these “failed” and “disturbingly restrictive” waivers, and speaks directly to implementers to tell them they can restart work, said Asia Russell, executive director of Health GAP.
But because of the “chaos” the stop-work order caused, rebuilding trust, mechanisms and programs is going to be “extremely challenging,” Russell said.
About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
