The Administration That Cried Wolf
For the second time in its few weeks in office, the Trump administration has petitioned the Supreme Court for emergency review. This latest effort involves the USAID case, which challenges the executive order Trump issued last month instructing agencies not to disburse foreign aid funds that Congress had already approved. Trump sought to countermand Congress on the principle that the distribution of the funds was not "fully aligned with the foreign policy of the president.”
A group of plaintiffs designated to receive the USAID funds sued, arguing that the order was arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. On February 13, a district court suspended the order and instructed the government to resume payments.
Nearly two weeks then passed, during which the government, as best we can tell, did… not much of anything. At a hearing on Tuesday, an exasperated judge heard plaintiffs explain that the government apparently hadn’t taken any action to comply with the court’s order, and many of their clients were in desperate need of the suspended payments.
The judge sharply questioned the government attorney, who danced around and obfuscated as best he could but ultimately told the court only that the government was preparing to comply with the two-week-old order and would explain further at an upcoming status conference.
https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/the-administration-that-cried-wolf