Washington, DC [US], February 27 : Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts, on Wednesday (local time) briefly paused a midnight deadline for the Donald Trump administration to unfreeze nearly USD 2 billion in foreign aid payments, imposed by lower judge who found the administration had breached its ruling, The Hill reported.
The Trump administration said it could not feasibly begin payments on the rapid timeline set by US District Judge Amir Ali, who on Tuesday asked the State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) to resume funding for foreign aid contracts and grants by the end of Wednesday.
In the emergency motion to the high court, acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote, "This new order requiring payment of enormous sums of foreign-assistance money in less than 36 hours intrudes on the prerogatives of the Executive Branch. The President's power is at its apexand the power of the judiciary is at its nadirin matters of foreign affairs."
By default, the request went to Roberts, who has been designated to handle emergency appeals arising from Washington, DC. His pause lasts until the court takes decision on whether to wipe Ali's ruling, which Roberts could decide himself or refer to full court for a vote. Roberts directed the plantiffs to respond in court ruling by mid-day Friday, according to The Hill report.
The decision taken by Roberts implies that the Trump administration does not have to release the funding by midnight, handing Trump a temporary win in his efforts to dismantle United States Agency for International Development (USAID). However, it leaves the USAID contractors and non-profits who filed the case in limbo.
In the court filings, the coalition wrote that unless the administration makes payments, several plaintiffs and their members could be forced to stop operations this week, arguing that "time truly is of the essence."
Lawyer Stephen Wirth wrote, "After flouting the district court's temporary restraining order for a full twelve days in letter and in spirit requiring the district court to not once, not twice, but three times order compliance Defendants bring this premature appeal in a last-ditch effort to evade the order of an Article III court."
In a statement, Allison Zieve, director of Public Citizen Litigation Group, which represents one group of plaintiffs, said, "The lengths to which the government is going to flout a court order, all for the goal of ending life-saving humanitarian assistance, is staggering."
The US Justice Department insisted that there are other legal ways for the groups to try to access funding they believe they are owed.
Since assuming office, Trump has been wanting to dismantle USAID, including through his executive order demanding a halt in all federal aid payments. Most USAID officials have been placed on administrative leave and blocked from accessing their offices or internal systems, and many others have been fired.
The move comes as Donald Trump wants to transform federal spending to align with his administration's agenda, The Hill reported. Before Amir Ali, an appointee of former US President Joe Biden had set the midnight deadline. He ruled that Trump administration flouted his order. However, he did not hold officials in civil contempt over the transgression.
In a separate case, a federal judge in Rhode Island stated that the Trump administration dodged a court order, ruling that the government did not unfreeze US federal aid, despite his order to block the pause.
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