USAID contracts and grants still being terminated despite court order

Citing federal and USAID-specific regulations, the Trump administration is moving ahead with cancelling grants and contracts.

By Elissa Miolene // 19 February 2025

Last week, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to temporarily halt its foreign aid freeze on existing programs — one that came as a result of a stop-work order issued by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Jan. 24.

Despite that, the Trump administration is still terminating grants and contracts, with Peter Marocco, the acting deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, stating that virtually “all USAID contracts are terminable by the Agency for convenience,” according to a document filed on Tuesday.

Nearly 500 USAID grants, contracts, and other awards have been terminated since Jan. 22, while many others have been paused, suspended, and forced to stop work, according to the court documents. The State Department has terminated more than 730 grants and 25 contracts and suspended thousands