US district judge Loren AliKhan, an appointee of US President Joe Biden, ordered that ousted IAF president and CEO Sara Aviel be reinstated immediately and blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to dissolve the agency’s operations. “Because neither President Trump nor Mr Marocco had the authority to fire her from her position… Ms. Aviel is likely to succeed on the merits of her case,” AliKhan wrote in her decision, according to the news agency Associated Press.
AliKhan’s order invalidated Marocco’s role and actions, including the cancellation of nearly all IAF grants and plans to fire most of its staff.
The justice department argued that Trump lawfully replaced the board and that the administration’s actions were part of broader efforts to ensure government leadership aligns with the president’s goals. But judge AliKhan pushed back strongly. “That reading eviscerates the Appointments Clause,” she wrote, calling the administration’s theory of unchecked executive power “frightening,” reported The Hill.
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