Washington – A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to accelerate its payment of some of the almost $ 2 billion in debts to the partners of the United States Agency for International Development and the State Department, which gives it a deadline on Monday to pay the non -profit groups and companies in a demand on the abrupt closure of the administration of foreign assistance financing.
The American district judge Amir Ali described the partial payment as a first “concrete” step that he wanted to see from the Administration, which is fighting against multiple demands that seek to withdraw the administration of the administration of USAID and a freezing of six weeks in the USAID funds, which has forced organizations financed by the United States to stop the help and development work around the world and fire workers.
The Ali interrogation line at a four -hour hearing on Thursday suggested skepticism of the Trump administration argument that the presidents have a wide authority to cancel Congress decisions about spending when it comes to foreign policy.
It would be a “proposal for land demand and delay in the country to say that appropriations are optional,” said Ali.
“The question I have for you is, where do you get this in the constitutional document?” He asked a government lawyer, Indraneel Sur.
Thursday’s order is in a continuous case with more decisions in the termination of the administration of more than 90% of USAID contracts worldwide this month.
Ali’s ruling came a day after a divided Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration offer To freeze the funds that flowed through USAID. The Superior Court told ALI to clarify what the government must do to comply with its previous order that requires the rapid release of funds for the work that had already been carried out.
The freezing of funds arose from an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on January 20. The Administration appealed after ALI issued a temporary restriction order and established a deadline to release payment for the work already done.
The administration said it has replaced a freezing of expenses in general with Individualized determinationsWhich led to the cancellation of 5,800 USAID contracts, more than 90% of the agency’s project contracts, and 4,100 subsidies from the State Department for a total of almost $ 60 billion in help.
“The funds freeze, it does not continue. It’s over, “South told the judge on Thursday.
With thousands of the termination of the form of the form that come out from this month, non -profit organizations and companies accuse that they were not possible reviews of real individual contracts, and that the cancellations of the contract only made permanent most of the closures of general programs for the freezing of financing.
The AIDS vaccine defense coalition, the Global Health Council and other plaintiffs in the lawsuit are to pay their part of the almost $ 2 billion that they and other USAID partners were already due at the time of freezing funds of January 20.
The lawyers of the organizations told the Court on Thursday that they also wanted to see all the terminated endings, and the future terminations follow the regulations.
The Trump administration said it recently resumed the payment of USAID debts after freezing funds. But he told the court that his payments processing was slowing down because he had extracted most of the USAID workers of his work, through forced leaves and shots, as part of the closure of the agency.
Ali pointed out on Thursday that USAID had said that routinely made thousands of payments before the agency closes, and said that he had recently called 100 employees out of license to process the payments.
The administration could continue to bring the workers designed for license to make the deadline on Monday, he said.
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An earlier version said incorrectly, Judge Amir Ali ordered the reimbursement of all the almost $ 2 billion in the debts of USAID and the State Department for Monday. Ali ordered the payment on Monday to non -profit companies and organizations in demand.
