U.S. President Donald Trump meets with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 24, 2025.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
A trio of federal judges on Tuesday dealt the Trump administration setbacks in separate court cases involving federal spending, refugees and foreign aid.
In one case, a judge extended a block on the Trump administration freezing federal spending on grants, loans and other financial aid.
“In the simplest terms, the freeze was ill-conceived from the beginning,” wrote Judge Loren AliKhan in an opinion issued in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
“Defendants either wanted to pause up to $3 trillion in federal spending practically overnight, or they expected each federal agency to review every single one of its grants, loans, and funds for compliance in less than twenty-four hours,” AliKhan wrote.
“The breadth of that command is almost unfathomable.”
The funding freeze was part of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency effort by the administration to cut federal spending. Billionaire Elon Musk is overseeing that initiative.
In another case, a judge in Washington state federal court blocked an executive order by President Donald Trump that had paused the nation’s Refugee Admissions Program.
“The president has substantial discretion to suspend refugee admissions. But that authority is not limitless,” said Judge Jamal Whitehead in his decision.
“He can not ignore Congress’ detailed framework for refugee admissions and the limits it places on the president’s ability to suspend the same,” Whitehead said.
In the third case, in D.C. federal court, Judge Amir Ali for a third time ordered the Trump administration to release foreign aid funds.
Ali’s order came at the end of a hearing where an attorney for aid groups told him that the money the judge previously had said should be disbursed to the group remained frozen.
— NBC News’ Dareh Gregorian and Gary Grumbach contributed to this story.