SCOTUS Denies Trump’s Request to Lift Order Requiring Release of $1.5 Billion in Foreign Aid
The Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote rejected the Trump administration’s request to lift a lower-court order requiring the government to unfreeze over $1.5 billion in foreign aid owed to nonprofits and government partners for their humanitarian efforts with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The court’s order was in response to a lawsuit filed by a global health group, an AIDS/HIV relief organization and a nonprofit journalism network challenging President Donald Trump’s day-one executive order to halt all foreign assistance for 90 days.
The case is the second to reach the Supreme Court over Trump’s executive orders, but it is the first to involve impoundment — the claim that the president can unilaterally withhold or block funding that has been appropriated by Congress.
In denying Trump’s request, SCOTUS asked the D.C. District Court to clarify what the government’s obligations are, though the lower court’s order to release the funds remains in effect.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented to the court denying Trump’s application. Alito, who wrote the dissent, said the court made “a most unfortunate misstep that rewards an act of judicial hubris and imposes a $2 billion penalty on American taxpayers.”
The aid organizations argued that Trump’s order violated several federal laws, including the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which prevents presidents from withholding funds without congressional approval.
Washington D.C. District Court Judge Amir Ali had twice ordered the Trump administration to unlock the frozen foreign aid, but several nonprofits said funding was never restored. Ali last week determined the administration failed to comply with his previous restraining orders in the case.
Last week, Ali gave the Trump administration a midnight deadline to unlock funds. The administration attempted to delay Ali’s deadline at the Supreme Court, which in turn issued an administrative stay and maintained the freeze to give the court additional time to review arguments in the cases.
In a motion to SCOTUS, the Trump administration didn’t argue that the president can impound funds, nor did it argue the foreign funding freeze was legal. Instead, it asked SCOTUS to vacate Ali’s order because it was too broad and applied to contracts given to organizations that were not included in the lawsuit.
The foreign aid groups involved in the lawsuit in turn asked justices to reject the government’s motion to vacate because Trump officials had not taken steps to comply with Ali’s previous rulings.
The district court is set to hold a hearing tomorrow over the plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction.