Several nonprofit groups launched fundraising campaigns last week after the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign assistance.

The ruling marked the second the time a federal judge had pushed the Trump administration to act after finding that it had ignored an earlier order.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali denied the Department of Justice's request to push the midnight deadline by which the Trump administration needs to pay more than $1.9 billion in foreign aid. The case is now in the hands of a panel of three appellate judges – each nominated to the bench by Democratic presidents – who will decide whether to issue an emergency stay of the deadline.