The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday granted a last-minute stay of a lower court ruling ordering the Trump administration to release $2 billion in foreign aid.
Chief Justice John Roberts granted the stay, which came after the administration made the appeal to the High Court to avoid having to release the aid by a midnight deadline.
The Context
The aid was blocked after President Donald Trump signed an executive order his first day in office ordering the funding freeze while his administration scoured U.S. spending for what Trump and his allies characterize as “waste, fraud and abuse.”
Earlier this week, a lower court judge ordered the administration to unblock the aid in response to a lawsuit filed by nonprofit organizations in connection to the Trump administration’s freezing of foreign assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department.
The judge in the case gave the Trump administration until 11:59 p.m. ET Wednesday to release the funds.
What To Know
In its Wednesday evening filing, the Trump administration said the lower court’s order to unfreeze the funds “has thrown what should be an orderly review by the government into chaos.”
“Such wholesale, universal relief plainly exceeds what district courts can order under Article III and principles of equity and effectively allows a single federal district court to supervise the federal government’s contracting decisions regarding foreign aid—an area where the Executive Branch ordinarily has the broadest discretion,” the filing said.
The Trump administration went on to argue that the lower court did not have the jurisdiction to issue its order, saying that “the federal government has sovereign immunity from this type of breach-of-contract claim everywhere but the Court of Federal Claims.”
The AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council brought the case against Trump, the State Department, USAID and other government officials and agencies.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the Trump administration ran afoul of federal law by unilaterally freezing the funding, which jeopardized lifesaving programs across the world.
The contractors argued that the Trump administration owed them hundreds of millions of dollars and forced them to lay off thousands of workers while pushing them to the brink of bankruptcy.
Judge Amir H. Ali ordered the Trump administration to temporarily unblock the flow of funds on February 13 so the U.S. government could start paying off its bills to organizations who had been contracted by the State Department and USAID.
But USAID staffers, businesses and nonprofit groups said they hadn’t gotten any payments, despite Khan’s order.
What People Are Saying
Ali grilled a government lawyer about his earlier order during a hearing this week: “I’m not sure why I can’t get a straight answer from you on this. Are you aware of an unfreezing of the disbursement of funds for those contracts and agreements that were frozen before February 13. Are you aware of steps taken to actually release those funds?”
Indraneel Sur, a lawyer for the government, replied: “I’m not in a position to answer that.”
What Happens Next
Roberts granted the Trump administration and State Department reprieve from most of Ali’s immediate requirements and said responses to the request must be filed by noon Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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