Judge again orders US to unfreeze foreign aid, stops short of contempt
Source: Reuters
February 20, 2025 6:58 PM EST Updated 31 min ago
Feb 20 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday ordered Trump administration officials to comply with his earlier order that they lift a freeze of nearly all foreign aid, though he stopped short of holding them in contempt of court.
The order from U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington came after the administration said in court filings earlier this week that it was keeping thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department contracts and grants canceled or suspended despite a temporary restraining order that payments be restored.
The administration argued that it was complying with the order, which they said left them room to cancel or suspend contracts while they reviewed them one by one.
Ali wrote on Thursday he "was not inviting defendants to continue the suspension while they reviewed contracts and legal authorities to come up with a new, post-hoc rationalization for the en masse suspension." Two non-profit groups, which are among numerous plaintiffs suing over the aid freeze, on Wednesday asked Ali to hold the administration officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio in contempt for "brazen defiance" of his earlier order.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/judge-again-orders-us-unfreeze-foreign-aid-stops-short-contempt-2025-02-20/
bluestarone
(22,466 posts)answer to the judge.
PSPS
(15,376 posts)If nothing else, that last five years have shown that the judicial system is a toothless paper tiger.
Buddyzbuddy
(2,911 posts)and then repeat yourself. You're teaching them not to believe you. You must follow through with stated consequences. 1 warning, that's all.
republianmushroom
(22,724 posts)Good luck with that. chuckle chuckle
LetMyPeopleVote
(182,091 posts)angrychair
(12,510 posts)We have officially lost the Judicial branch. There will be no accountability. If we don't win these upcoming special elections we may be truly screwed.
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