WASHINGTON: A federal judge on Friday denied the Trump administration’s request that she stay her May 19 ruling that returned control of the US Institute of Peace back to its acting president and board.
In a seven-page ruling, US District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell said the government did not meet any of the four requirements for a stay, including a “strong showing” of whether its request could succeed on the merits.
Howell reiterated her finding that the Institute is not part of the executive branch and is therefore beyond President Donald Trump’s authority to fire its board. She added that the firings also did not follow the law for how a board member of the Institute might be removed by the president.
Most of the board was fired in March during a takeover of the Institute by the Department of Government Efficiency. That action touched off the firing of its acting president, former ambassador George Moose, and subsequently most of the staff. The organization’s headquarters, funded in part by donors, was turned over to the General Services Administration.
In her ruling May 19, Howell concluded that the board was fired illegally and all actions that followed that were therefore “null and void.”
In Friday’s ruling Howell also rejected the government’s argument that the organization had to fall into one of the three branches of government and since it does not legislate, nor is it part of the judicial branch, it must be part of the executive branch. “As the Court has previously pointed out, other entities also fall outside of this tripartite structure,” she wrote.
Howell also said that the government did not “describe any cognizable harm they will experience without a stay, let alone an irreparable one.” However, “as plaintiffs explain, every day that goes by without the relief this Court ordered, the job of putting (USIP) back together by rehiring employees and stemming the dissipation of USIP’s goodwill and reputation for independence will become that much harder.”
Moose reentered the headquarters Wednesday without incident along with the organization’s outside counsel, George Foote.
The White House was not immediately available for comment. In requesting the stay the government also requested a two-business-day stay to allow for an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Howell denied that request.
Judge denies stay request, lets ruling stand blocking DOGE efforts to shut down peace institute
https://arab.news/jyngc
Judge denies stay request, lets ruling stand blocking DOGE efforts to shut down peace institute
- Judge reiterates finding that USIP is not part of the executive branch and is therefore beyond Trump’s authority to fire its board
- Most of the board was fired in March during a takeover of the Institute by the Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk
Eritrean man accused of people-smuggling is extradited to the Netherlands
- Habtemariam had been on an international wanted list since 2021 after fleeing while on trial in Ethiopia
- He is wanted in the Netherlands for crimes including participating in a criminal organization involved in migrant-smuggling
AMSTERDAM: An Eritrean man alleged to be a people-smuggling kingpin was extradited Wednesday to the Netherlands by the UAE, paving the way for trial in a Dutch court.
The 41-year-old Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam had been on an international wanted list since 2021 after fleeing while on trial in Ethiopia, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service said in a statement. He was flown to Amsterdam accompanied by Dutch military police.
He is wanted in the Netherlands for crimes including participating in a criminal organization involved in migrant-smuggling, hostage-taking, extortion and violence, including sexual violence.
His case is linked to that of another Eritrean man, Tewelde Goitom, whose trial opened in a Dutch court last month. Prosecutors have sought a 20-year sentence.
Goitom’s defense lawyers want to interview Habtemariam as a witness in their client’s case. It is one of the largest human-smuggling cases ever brought in the Netherlands, prosecutors said.
Goitom told judges he is a victim of mistaken identity. He was extradited to the Netherlands in 2022 from Ethiopia, where he was convicted of similar crimes.
Habtemariam was arrested in Sudan in 2023 following an international manhunt led by the UAE. He is scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Saturday.
In a statement, the Dutch prosecution service alleged that the two Eritreans “worked together and earned large sums of money by assaulting and extorting primarily Eritrean migrants. The assault took place in Libya, and the extortion of family members took place in the Netherlands.”
Habtemariam was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment after escaping from custody in Ethiopia while on trial on people-smuggling charges.
Libya in recent years has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants seeking a better life in Europe. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed autocrat Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. Human traffickers have benefited from the chaos, smuggling migrants across the country’s land borders with six nations.
