A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to release foreign aid payments owed under certain existing contracts but stopped short of staving off mass contract cancellations that resulted from a subsequent review.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, an appointee of former President Biden, ruled that the administration must pay out U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) bills owed through Feb. 13 under existing contracts and grants. He also blocked the government from "unlawfully impounding" congressionally appropriated foreign aid.

However, Ali declined to invalidate the case-by-case review that USAID and the State Department said was completed by Feb. 26, which resulted in the cancellation of nearly 5,800 USAID awards and 4,100 awards from the State Department.

"The provision and administration of foreign aid has been a joint enterprise between our two political branches," Ali wrote in a 48-page decision. "That partnership is built not out........

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