According to The New York Times, a US federal court has temporarily blocked a decision by President Donald Trump's team to freeze federal grants and loans worth about $3 trillion.
Points of attention
- A lawsuit by activists and prosecutors general forced the court to intervene in the situation.
- What is important to understand is that Trump's decision violates the law.
- Ukraine plans to hold consultations with American partners to quickly resume funding for humanitarian projects in Ukraine.
Trump's executive order did not take effect
As journalists learned, on January 28, Judge Lauren Alihan issued a decision in response to a lawsuit by the activist group Democracy Forward.
The latter drew attention to the fact that the decree of the Donald Trump administration violates the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act.
What is important to understand is that the latter regulate the rule-making activities of the executive branch. According to the judge, they will announce the final decision on February 3.
A separate lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of 22 states and the District of Columbia is also being considered, who are also trying to block the Trump administration's initiative until its final review.
According to activists, this decision by the judge was the second time in history that a federal judge intervened to suspend Trump's expanded interpretation of his own powers and allow the trial to continue.
How Ukraine reacted to the Trump team's decision
The decree of the administration of the new US president was commented on by Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Iryna Vereshchuk.
Regarding the suspension of USAID funding: Yes, this is unexpected and unpleasant news: both for the authorities and for the civil sector. But, this is not the first and not the last test that we have to overcome. I am in charge of the humanitarian response, and a 90-day pause from a key donor cannot but be disconcerting.
Iryna Vereshchuk
Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine
According to Iryna Vereshchuk, everything will be stabilized in the humanitarian direction.
Moreover, she announced substantive consultations with American partners with the aim of quickly continuing funding for humanitarian response projects in Ukraine.
The deputy head of the OPU promised that this would happen in the near future.
