The Trump administration told a federal court Wednesday that it is making hundreds of payments a day in foreign assistance grants as it tries to comply with a judge’s order halting President Trump’s spending pause.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali had ordered the money to start flowing again after groups sued, saying they were being starved of cash for work they had already done for the government.
The case had briefly reached the Supreme Court, which declined the administration’s request to halt the spending but instructed Judge Ali to be more reasonable in setting deadlines for getting the money out the door.
At stake, according to court documents, is some $2 billion in foreign assistance payments.
The case arose following a Jan. 20 executive order that called for a large freeze of foreign assistance money from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Mr. Trump said he wanted to conduct a review to ensure the money aligned with his goals.
Global health and AIDS groups said they are in “financial turmoil” over the administration’s pause on foreign assistance spending and some of them need the money to keep operating.
Judge Ali, a Biden appointee, had originally given the feds just one day to pay out nearly $2 billion, which was put on hold when the high court reviewed the matter. The judge has since lowered that demand to 300 payments per day, which the Trump administration is surpassing.
The filing comes as the president has been accused of flouting a court order and threatening the rule of law.
Critics have said the president’s administration defied an order over the weekend from Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee, to turn around planes containing illegal Venezuelan gang members.
The Trump administration had two planes already in international airspace at the time of the order and the planes did not turn around and instead landed in El Salvador as planned.
Lawyers defending the president have said that the judicial order did not apply since the planes were out of U.S. airspace.
The issue is being litigated before Judge Boasberg as he decides whether the feds ignored his judicial order, and if so, what to do about it.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has appealed Judge Boasberg’s decision.
• Stephen Dinan contributed to this report.
