The federal court on Monday ordered that the Trump Administration pay contractors the remaining foreign aid due for work completed. In a recent ruling, the judge noted the likely violation of the doctrine of separation of powers by the Trump Administration by “illegally impounding” almost $2 billion of funds appropriated to it by Congress.

In his ruling, U.S. district court judge Amir Ali (a Biden appointment) said that the Trump Administration had likely overstepped its constitutional authority by attempting to stop the payments owed to grant recipients and contractors for foreign aid from the U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department.

Ali stated, “Here the executive branch has unilaterally determined that money appropriated by Congress for foreign assistance will not be used.”

The executive is not only claiming his constitutional authority but also usurping Congress’s exclusive authority in dictating whether funds should even be appropriated.

Ali stated that the limited scope of his case, which only relates to projects completed before Feb. 13, prevented him from ordering payment on any other works or re-establishing other contracts.

Last Friday, the amount due by the government was $671,000,000. Although it is not clear if additional payments were made, Ali had ordered that the plaintiffs file a status report on the Trump Administration’s compliance by March 14th.

The plaintiffs also had to submit a timeline for the next steps. In the 48-page court order, Ali stated that the Court was ready to hear any concerns about feasibility at the request of the parties.

Ali also devoted a significant portion of his 48-page decision to arguments that Trump’s administration may have usurped the executive authority granted by the Constitution when it ordered a blanket freezing on almost all foreign aid in an executive order issued Jan. 20, and in a subsequent memo four days later, which curtailed funding for foreign aid and restructured contracts.

Ali ordered that the Trump Administration pay for all foreign aid funds owed, which totaled $1.9 billion in previous completed works, before February 26th at 11:59 pm.

The Supreme Court reviewed the emergency case last week but rejected the request of the Administration to extend the freezing. The court instead remanded Ali and the D.C. Federal court to determine the details of the payment schedule.

The bulk of the hearing, lasting more than 4 hours in D.C. Federal Court, was devoted to the role of the federal government and its review of foreign aid grants and contractors, for which Trump Administration lawyers informed Ali that they had already completed the process and reached final decisions.

Ali specifically mentioned in his decision that the Trump administration could not terminate projects for which Congress has allocated funds.

He said, “The provision and administration for foreign aid was a joint venture between our two branches of government. This partnership was not built out of convenience but constitutional necessity.”

If the government decides to challenge any of the allegations or parts of the memo, these arguments and Ali’s ruling could ultimately bring the matter back to the Supreme Court.