Latest news with #Aviel
Miami Herald
10-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Rare, good news for a Haiti in crisis: Court revives U.S. agency aid
In these times of strikingly bad news in Haiti, a whisper of good news for the country emerged from a federal courtroom in Washington, D.C. Last week, the Inter-American Foundation, IAF, a small U.S. government agency that provides grants for social and economic development to grassroots organizations in Haiti and throughout the Americas, was granted a reprieve from the devastating dismantling of the agency begun several weeks ago under the auspices of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. In an order in the case of Aviel v. Gor issued last Friday 4/4 in Washington by U.S. District Judge Loren L. Alikhan, the IAF was granted a preliminary injunction restoring the agency's president, Sara Aviel, who had been abruptly and illegally removed by DOGE, to her leadership position. The court order also declared void and without any legal effect the actions taken by DOGE. These actions taken in February included the replacement of the IAF's Senate-confirmed board of directors by a single legally specious appointment and the firing of the IAF's 40-member entire staff — and unilaterally terminating all the agency's grant agreements and contracts. This court-ordered reprieve will enable the agency to resume its work — at least for now — of assisting disadvantaged people throughout Haiti. Since it was created by Congress in 1969 to support the hypothesis that community-led development is more effective than top-down undertakings designed and controlled by distant authorities, the IAF has supported over 6,000 local organizations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The IAF's grant programs in Haiti that DOGE had slashed, as outlined in a report released on Friday by Church World Service, had been serving 81,493 Haitians in locally led development initiatives. This includes 14,500 small farmers who lost access to seeds, tools and training provided through an IAF grant; another 15,000 Haitians who lost access to medical care; and 8,100 solidarity group members whose access to credit was significantly reduced. Now, there is a glimmer of hope that support for these and other programs in the beleaguered Caribbean nation can be restored to a nation in crisis. This whisper of good news for Haiti reverberates throughout countries in the Western Hemisphere where, in fiscal year 2024 alone, economic development efforts conceived and managed by local, community-based organizations and supported by the IAF, benefited more than 4.6 million people through 425 grant agreements. These FY 24 grant agreements with a total IAF investment of $24 million generated $43 million in counterpart support committed by the IAF's grantee partners. Those partners are disadvantaged men, women and children in Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Ecuador, Jamaica and other hemispheric countries. Detailed information on these partnerships was available on the IAF's website but was taken down by DOGE. In the so-called 'development industry' of multi-million dollar budgets and enormous projects that often fail to deliver, the IAF stands out for its small and clearly articulated grants, low overhead costs and support of sustainable efforts undertaken by the people of the hemisphere. Its 2024 budget was $60 million. Two days after Justice Alikhan announced her decision granting the IAF's reprieve from being shuttered, and its funding slashed, the Department of Justice announced it would appeal. Depending on the court's ruling the whisper of good news may be short-lived, although they too can appeal. Equally short-lived could be restoring that important glimmer of support, relief and hope that the work of the IAF has offered to not only tens of thousands of Haitians suffering under the weight of poverty and violence, but to millions of peaceful and hard-working citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean. These deserving people surely merit not just a resumption of the work of the U.S. government organization that supports them but for that support to be augmented considerably. It is for this reason that Justice Alikhan's decision must stand. Robert Maguire worked as the IAF's representative for Haiti and the Caribbean from 1979–1999 and is a retired professor of international development studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge blocks Trump's takeover of Inter-American Foundation
A federal judge blocked President Trump's takeover of a federal agency that invests in Latin America and the Caribbean, finding Friday that he likely went beyond his authority. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan ordered the administration indefinitely reinstate Sara Aviel, the ousted president of the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), and stop various other efforts to gut the foundation as her lawsuit proceeds. 'Because accepting Defendants' arguments would leave parts of the Constitution in tatters, Ms. Aviel has shown a substantial likelihood of success on the merits,'said AliKhan, an appointee of former President Biden. Established by Congress in 1969 as a nonprofit corporation, the IAF funds efforts to combat poverty, migration and instability in Latin America and the Caribbean. The administration began efforts to gut the agency on Feb. 19, when Trump signed an order directing the IAF and several other groups be 'eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.' AliKhan's ruling comes weeks after another judge declined to block Trump's takeover of the U.S. African Development Foundation, another agency listed in the order. Within days of Trump's directive, the administration removed Aviel and the IAF board as the Department of Government Efficiency injected itself into the foundation. At a court hearing Wednesday, the government said the IAF now has only one employee and one active grant remaining. Trump appointed Peter Marocco, a State Department official who has played a central role in the administration's efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, as the IAF's sole acting board member. The judge's order Friday effectively reverses Marocco's takeover of the agency, blocking him from serving on the board and unwinding all actions he has taken, including any grants that were frozen. The Justice Department had insisted both Aviel's termination and Marocco's appointment were legal, part of a broader theory advanced by the administration that the president has expansive authority to hire and fire officials across the federal bureaucracy. In her ruling, AliKhan called the logical extension of the argument 'frightening.' 'Then the President could appoint an 'acting' board member indefinitely without ever needing to seek the advice and consent of the Senate,' AliKhan wrote. 'That reading eviscerates the Appointments Clause. When the court pressed Defendants' counsel for a limiting principle at oral argument, Defendants had no response — convincing or otherwise.' The government also asserted Aviel wasn't entitled to an injunction at the early stage of the case because she hadn't made the necessary showing of irreparable harm, pointing to two recent appeals rulings that cleared the way for Trump to fire other federal agency leaders. The judge rejected that argument, too. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge blocks Trump from dismantling agency that funds community groups in Latin American countries
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge agreed on Friday to block the Trump administration from dismantling an independent agency that distributes grant money to community development groups in Latin American and Caribbean countries. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan ruled that the administration doesn't have the authority to remove the head of the Inter-American Foundation, which is governed by a bipartisan nine-member board. Congress created the foundation more than 50 years ago. It has disbursed $945 million to thousands of grant recipients in roughly three dozen countries. AliKhan, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, found that Congress had given the only foundation's board the authority to fire its head. 'Because neither President Trump nor Mr. Marocco had the authority to fire her from her position as the president of the IAF, Ms. Aviel is likely to succeed on the merits of her case,' AliKhan wrote. On Feb. 19, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for dramatically reducing the size of the federal government. It listed the IAF as one of the agencies targeted for cuts. Representatives of billionaire Trump advisor Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency showed up at the foundation's offices on Feb. 20. Several days later, the White House removed all of the agency's board members, fired Sara Aviel as president and CEO of the IAF and appointed Pete Marocco as the agency's acting board chair. Marocco later appointed himself as Aviel's temporary replacement. Aviel's attorneys said most foundation employees were notified they will be fired on Friday. The IAF's website has been taken down. Marocco has terminated nearly all of its grants. 'If those terminations go into effect, those staff will never return. The IAF will be gutted,' Aviel's lawyers wrote. 'The same is true of the relationships with grantees and donors, and the reputation the IAF has spent decades cultivating in Latin America.' Nine of more than 400 organizations that had their IAF grants canceled also sued to preserve the foundation. Those plaintiffs include groups that oppose violence against women and in schools in Peru, extend credit to women in rural Mexico and teach small farmers sustainable agricultural techniques. 'Several have already had to lay off staff and several are considering shutting down entirely,' their attorneys wrote. Government attorneys said Trump lawfully removed the board members and appointed Marocco, who had the authority to remove Aviel. They argued that Aviel's court-ordered reinstatement would undermine Trump's goals to reduce the size of the government. 'Moreover, the public interest would be undermined if the President did not have a Foundation Board and leadership appointed by that Board who holds the President's confidence and, accordingly, will effectively serve him in executing his duties as Chief Executive,' a Justice Department attorney wrote. The administration also fired the head of the United States African Development Foundation, a sister organization of the IAF. Ward Brehm sued to keep his job as president of the USADF. On March 11, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon declined to extend an order blocking Brehm's firing pending a ruling on the merits of his case. __ Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed.
The Hill
04-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Judge blocks Trump's takeover of Inter-American Foundation
A federal judge blocked President Trump's takeover of a federal agency that invests in Latin America and the Caribbean, finding Friday that he likely went beyond his authority. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan ordered the administration indefinitely reinstate Sara Aviel, the ousted president of the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), and stop various other efforts to gut the foundation as her lawsuit proceeds. 'Because accepting Defendants' arguments would leave parts of the Constitution in tatters, Ms. Aviel has shown a substantial likelihood of success on the merits,'said AliKhan, an appointee of former President Biden. Established by Congress in 1969 as a nonprofit corporation, the IAF funds efforts to combat poverty, migration and instability in Latin America and the Caribbean. The administration began efforts to gut the agency on Feb. 19, when Trump signed an order directing the IAF and several other groups be 'eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.' AliKhan's ruling comes weeks after another judge similarly declined to block Trump's takeover of the U.S. African Development Foundation, another agency listed in the order. Within days of Trump's directive, the administration removed Aviel and the IAF board as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) injected itself into the foundation. At a court hearing Wednesday, the government said IAF now only has one employee and one active grant remaining. Trump appointed Peter Marocco, a State Department official who has played a central role in the administration's efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, as IAF's sole acting board member. The judge's order Friday effectively reverses Marocco's takeover of the agency, blocking him from serving on the board and unwinding all actions he has taken, including any grants that were frozen. The Justice Department had insisted both Aviel's termination and Marocco's appointment were legal, part of a broader theory advanced by the administration that the president has expansive authority to hire and fire officials across the federal bureaucracy. In her ruling, AliKhan called the logical extension of the argument 'frightening.' 'Then the President could appoint an 'acting' board member indefinitely without ever needing to seek the advice and consent of the Senate,' AliKhan wrote. 'That reading eviscerates the Appointments Clause. When the court pressed Defendants' counsel for a limiting principle at oral argument, Defendants had no response — convincing or otherwise.' The government also asserted Aviel wasn't entitled to an injunction at the early stage of the case because she hadn't made the necessary showing of irreparable harm, pointing to two recent appeals rulings that cleared the way for Trump to fire other federal agency leaders. The judge rejected that argument, too.
