GOOD- NEWS For Nigeria, Other Countries As U. S Court Issues Unexpected Order To Donald Trump; SEE Exciting Details
In a closely contested ruling on Wednesday, the United States Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to comply with a district court order and pay nearly $2 billion in foreign assistance funds to nonprofit aid groups. The funds, intended for completed humanitarian projects in Nigeria and other countries, had been frozen under an executive order by the Trump administration.
The court ruled 5- 4 in favour of the aid groups, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett siding with the liberal justices. The decision, however, did not provide detailed reasoning but directed the district court judge to clarify the government’ s obligations in adhering to the temporary restraining order. The ruling stressed that compliance timelines should be ” feasible. ”
A lower court judge is currently reviewing whether to impose a longer- term preliminary injunction against the foreign aid freeze, which could further restrict the administration’ s control over such funds.
Justice Samuel Alito, who voted against the ruling, expressed deep frustration with the majority decision, stating that he was ” stunned” by the outcome.
” Does a single district- court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) $2 billion taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic ‘ No, ‘ but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise, ” Alito wrote in his dissent.
The Trump administration has yet to comment on the ruling, and the court did not specify a deadline for compliance.
The dispute began when the Trump administration attempted to halt foreign aid payments through an executive order. However, U. S. District Court Judge Amir Ali issued a temporary restraining order three weeks ago, demanding that the payments continue.
Last week, Judge Ali, a Biden appointee, ruled that the administration had violated the restraining order by failing to resume payments. He then set a deadline of 11: 59 p. m. on 26th February for the Trump administration to distribute the delayed funds.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) admitted in court that the administration had deliberately ignored the restraining order. Government lawyers argued that the administration should not be required to pay back the funds due to ” sovereign immunity, ” a legal doctrine that protects the government from certain lawsuits.
During court proceedings, a DOJ lawyer struggled to provide clear answers about the administration’ s compliance with the restraining order. In response, Chief Justice Roberts ordered a temporary stay before the deadline while the Supreme Court reviewed the case.
The suspension of foreign aid payments has placed nonprofit organisations in financial distress, with many teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. These groups, which rely on U. S. assistance for humanitarian projects, have been searching for clarity on when funding will resume.
On 13th February, representatives of these aid groups met with Pete Marocco, the Trump administration official overseeing the dismantling of the U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID). During the meeting, Marocco defended what he termed a ” total zero- based review” of foreign aid and argued that some areas required ” radical change. ”
According to audio obtained by ABC News, Marocco suggested that the aid freeze was necessary to prevent fraudulent payments.
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” One of the reasons that there have been problems with some of the payments is because, despite the president’ s executive order, despite the secretary’ s guidance, we still had nefarious actors in the agencies that were trying to push out hundreds of illegal payments, ” Marocco stated.
While Marocco promised that payments to organisations with existing contracts would resume the following week, the funds remained frozen.
