The Trump administration is seeking swift intervention from a federal appeals court in the ongoing legal battle over the freeze on foreign aid. This move could potentially escalate the issue to the Supreme Court within a matter of days or even hours.
The administration is urging the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals to halt a district judge's order that mandates the State Department and US Agency for International Development to pay nearly $2 billion owed to contractors and nonprofits for completed aid work by midnight.
The appellate panel, comprised of three Democratic appointees, has set a deadline of 1 p.m. ET today for a response from the funding recipients who filed the lawsuit against the foreign aid freeze.
While federal judges have issued emergency orders restraining the administration's broad actions on various fronts, the Trump Justice Department has only sought expedited appellate review in a select few cases. The administration's request for the DC Circuit's intervention indicates a strong reluctance to comply with court orders to reinstate the foreign assistance funding.
In court filings on Tuesday night, the administration revealed that it is conducting a comprehensive review of all aid contracts, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally involved in certain decisions. The administration argues that it is unable to immediately fulfill the judge's order for prompt payments on some invoices due to this ongoing review process.
Last week, the challengers petitioned the judge to hold relevant government officials in contempt for allegedly failing to adhere to the earlier order reinstating the funding. While the judge initially declined, he set a new deadline for some payments after the Justice Department provided insufficient information during a Tuesday hearing on how the administration was executing the previous order.
