Washington – A federal judge ordered on Thursday that the Trump administration reinstate funding for foreign assistance contracts and other awards in place prior to President Trump’s inaugural while litigation continues. This is yet another setback to the president who wants to make major changes to the federal Government.
Amir Ali, U.S. District judge, partially granted the request of a group that receives funding from U.S. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other agencies have been deprived of federal funding or forced to suspend work following Mr. Trump’s executive order ordering a 90 day pause in foreign development aid.
Nonprofit organizations claimed that the directive of Mr. Trump and the subsequent memorandum of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, issued late last year, which temporarily stopped funding for new foreign assistance programs, and called for stop work orders, were an illegal and unconstitutional use of executive power.
The warning was that the directive “has created chaos in the funding, administration and management” of USAID as well as other foreign assistance programs.
In a court filing, lawyers representing a group of challengers led by the Global Health Council wrote: “One cannot overstate that unlawful course conduct’s impact on business large and small, forced to close their programs and lay off employees; on children who are hungry across the globe and will be left without food; on populations in the world suffering from deadly diseases; and on the constitutional order.”
Ali, a former president Joe Biden’s nominee, prevented top Trump administration officials, who were still in office as of January 19, from suspending any contracts, grants, or other awards for foreign assistance that had been made. Ali, appointed by former President Joe Biden, prevented top Trump administration officials from suspending contracts or grants that were still in effect as of Jan. 19.
Judge Ali said that the groups had met their burden of proof for temporary emergency relief at this stage in the litigation but their request was overly broad. Ali, however, found that the nonprofit groups had a good chance of success on the merits and made “a strong preliminary showing” that they would suffer irreparable damage.
Ali wrote: “Here, it is stated that the purpose of suspending all foreign aid was to allow for a review of programs to ensure their effectiveness and consistency with priority.” “However at least until now, defendants have not provided any explanation as to why a blanket cancellation of all congressionally approved foreign aid was a rational prelude to reviewing programs. This caused a huge shockwave, upended thousands of agreements and organizations across the country and upset reliance interests.”
Stephen Wirth said that his clients were “devastated by the executive order” of Donald Trump. He said that due to the freezing of funding for foreign aid programs, many small businesses were forced to close, food for starving people abroad was rotting and expired medical supplies.
Wirth stated that at least one company, Democracy International, which is an international development firm that works on USAID-funded projects, had to lay off all 95 employees in the U.S. and 93% who worked for USAID overseas.
He said that the federal government is canceling contracts “en bloc.”
Lawyers representing the nonprofits stated that the organizations receiving foreign assistance grants tried to obtain funding from USAID or the State Department but were unable to do so. Wirth stated that in other cases, contracts have been terminated, and invoices for work completed have not yet been paid.
In a document, Justice Department attorneys said that at least 230 USAID contracts and grants have been terminated since Tuesday or stopped.
The Trump administration has claimed that by imposing a 90-day suspension on U.S. Foreign Development Assistance, it can ensure that projects that are supported align with its foreign policy.
Eric Hamilton, the deputy assistant attorney-general, stated during the hearing, that the question is how the money appropriated by Congress will be spent. He said federal laws that govern foreign assistance give the president the authority to decide how these funds should be spent.
He noted that Rubio has approved a waiver to save lives through humanitarian assistance programs.
Ali’s cases arose out of recent efforts made by the Trump Administration to overhaul USAID. USAID was founded in 1961 as an independent agency. The Trump administration has frozen foreign assistance funding, and issued stop-work orders to USAID contractors and partners. This has caused a tumult in its operations over the last few weeks. The administration has also taken steps to close overseas USAID missions, and to recall thousands of staff who live and work abroad. Last week, the administration put thousands of USAID employees in administrative leave, and closed down its Washington, D.C., headquarters.
In a separate lawsuit brought by unions, a federal judge in Washington has stopped some of Mr. Trump’s efforts.
U.S. district judge Carl Nichols was appointed by President Trump and temporarily prohibited from placing over 2,000 government employees on administrative leaves. He also ordered that the administration reinstate employees who were already on leave, and block expedited evacuations for USAID employees.
