President Donald Trump's administration said in a court filing late Tuesday night that it "cannot" meet a federal judge's 11:59 p.m. Wednesday deadline for releasing frozen funds to foreign aid contractors and grant recipients, potentially setting the stage for it to disobey a court order.
The claim came as the administration appealed the order from U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The administration asked the appeals court to put Ali's order on hold so it can consider the appeal.
In support of its request, the Trump administration submitted a declaration from Pete Marocco, who is currently acting as deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and director of foreign assistance at the State Department, saying that the required payments would take "multiple weeks."
The delay is due primarily to new processes put in place by the Trump administration to ensure that payments are legitimate and comply with the administration's policy goals, according to Marocco's declaration. Ali had already ruled that those were not valid grounds to delay payments.
Marocco said that the total amount of payments required by Ali's order was close to $2 billion.
Trump, a Republican, ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid on his first day in office. That order, and ensuing stop work orders halting USAID operations around the world, have jeopardized the delivery of life-saving food and medical aid, throwing global humanitarian relief efforts into chaos.
Ali, who was appointed by Trump's Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, is presiding over lawsuits brought by USAID and State Department contractors and grant recipients. The plaintiffs argue that Trump has violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution by largely dismantling USAID, which was established as an independent agency by Congress in 1998.
