He ruled in favor of the contractors who claim billions in outstanding invoices.
On Tuesday, District Judge Amir Ali ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration must release hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen funds for the operations of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) by Thursday.
President Trump’s administration paused billions in funding for USAID earlier this month, prompting opposition from Congressional and federal employees. USAID contractors sued shortly after, claiming that the United States owed them hundreds of millions of dollars in outstanding invoices for their operations.
Judge Ali had previously ordered the administration to unfreeze the federal funding on February 13. The president’s administration did not unfreeze the funding, and Judge Ali again ordered the administration to comply last week but stopped short of holding its agencies in contempt of the court. Judge Ali held another court hearing on Tuesday, where he questioned Justice Department attorney Indraneel Sur regarding the government’s lack of compliance with his order.
“Are you aware of an unfreezing of the disbursement of funds for those contracts and agreements that were frozen before February 13,” Judge Ali asked. “Are you aware of steps taken to actually release those funds?”
“I’m not in a position to answer that,” Attorney Sur said.
Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island also ordered the administration to unfreeze federal grants and loans earlier this month.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the president and his administration officials as they seek to determine legitimate federal contracts and payments.
- For wisdom for President Trump and attorneys in the Justice Department as they face legal challenges.
- For district judges to be discerning regarding their rulings over Executive Branch authority.
Sources: The Hill, AP News
