Non-profits ask judge to hold US officials in contempt for defying foreign aid order

By Brendan Pierson

Two non-profit groups suing the Trump administration over its freeze of nearly all foreign aid on Wednesday asked a federal judge to hold administration officials in contempt of court for defying the judge's order last week that the freeze be lifted.

The motion in Washington, D.C., federal court by the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and Journalism Development Network came after the administration said in a court filing late on Tuesday that it had authority to suspend or cancel thousands of contracts and grants despite U.S. District Judge Amir Ali's temporary restraining order.

"This Court should not brook such brazen defiance of the express terms of its order," they wrote, asking Ali to hold in civil contempt Secretary of State Marco Rubio, USAID deputy administrator Pete Marocco and Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought.

The White House, State Department, USAID and OMB did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid on his first day in office. The order was followed by aggressive moves to gut USAID, the main U.S. foreign aid agency, including by placing much of its staff on leave and exploring bringing the formerly independent agency under the State Department.

The changes have thrown global humanitarian relief efforts into chaos and slowed or stopped delivery of potentially life-saving food and medicine. The two non-profits' lawsuit is one among several challenging the administration's foreign aid policies.

Ali ruled in his temporary order that USAID and the State Department, which also funds foreign aid, may not enforce Trump's order through blanket suspensions or cancellations of contracts or grants, though he said they could enforce the terms of particular agreements.

The administration said in Tuesday's filing that it was complying with the order, but was reviewing its contracts and grants and had so far determined that all of them allowed it to cancel or suspend them.

The plaintiffs said in their contempt motion that the administration's claim "strains credulity," and quoted several anonymous USAID employees who said they had seen no evidence of any case-by-case review.

In a separate filing on Tuesday night, Marocco said that USAID had approved 21 payments worth more than $250 million, which were expected to be paid this week. He did not say whether those approvals were a direct response to Ali's order.

Marocco also said that, since Trump took office, 498 USAID contracts, grants or other funding agreements had been terminated for policy reasons, including because they were related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; sustainability and climate change; or were wasteful.

He said other USAID contracts and grants were suspended, rather than terminated, but did not say how many.

The State Department has terminated 25 foreign assistance contracts and 733 grants, according to Marocco's filing.

Marocco also said the State Department had suspended 711 contracts and 6,824 grants, and that if it is not allowed to keep them suspended pending further review, it would consider terminating them.

Marocco said USAID and the State Department's foreign aid payment processes lacked sufficient review and were prone to fraud, echoing public statements made by Trump. Neither Marocco nor the president has identified any instances of fraud.