In Narrow Decision Supreme Court Upholds A Lower Court Demand Ordering Trump To Pay Out $2 Billion in Foreign Aid

President Donald Trump is locked in a lengthy battle with a slate of foreign-aid recipients dead-set on unlocking billions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer money, after his executive order last month temporarily froze the foreign-aid spigot until his administration could vet the process.

Trump issued his executive order freezing foreign aid until his administration – with the help of the White House Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – could verify that recipients of the money were aligned with an America First approach to foreign-policy.

However, non-profits determined to get the spigot of U.S.-dollars flowing again sued the Trump Administration, asking a judge to force the Trump administration to unfreeze and disperse close to $2 billion dollars to foreign organizations for what they say are services already rendered.

On Monday of last week, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ordered the Trump Administration to pay roughly $1.5 billion dollars to USAID-affiliated non-profits, plus an additional $400 million to the State Department by a Wednesday night deadline.

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By late last Wednesday, the case had reached the Supreme Court, where Chief Justice John Roberts issued a last-minute pause to the court-ordered deadline, giving Trump’s team time to make their case.

This Wednesday, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that did not specifically address the core of the foreign aid issue but denied the Trump Administration’s request to lift the court ordered deadline.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court left District Judge Ali’s order in place, effectively forcing the Trump Administration to release the nearly $2 billion in foreign aid and directing Ali to “clarify what obligations the government must fulfill” to disburse the funds.

However, four justices – led by Justice Samuel Alito – strongly disagreed with the decision to force the Trump Administration to unlock billions in frozen foreign-aid funds. In a strongly worded dissent, Justice Alito asked:

“Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic ‘No.’”

Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined Alito in grave concern over the lower court ruling forcing the government to pay out the $2 billion dollars being left to stand.

As for what happens now, as Alito wrote in his dissent, “the government must apparently pay the $2 billion posthaste – not because the law requires it, but simply because a district judge so ordered.”

Ali and the district court promptly ordered the Trump Administration and the non-profits demanding funding to come to an agreement over the payment schedule, but this is highly disconcerting.

Apparently, according to the Supreme Court a president has no ability to temporarily pause taxpayer dollars flowing out the door to ensure those dollars are being spent wisely and not falling into the wrong hands.

The Court’s decision also sets a precedent that may encourage other groups who find themselves in the crosshairs of Trump and DOGE’s federal spending audit to try their luck at forcing the administration to turn the money spout of taxpayer dollars back on.

Manzanita Miller is the senior political analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.

Cross-posted with The Daily Torch

Related:

• Supreme Court Renews Trump’s Foreign Aid Freeze Pending Hearing. Who Controls Foreign Policy? The President Or District Courts?
• Federal Judges Selling Out the People are Moving to Block President Trump’s America First Priorities
• ‘Judicial Coup Against The Sitting President’: Democrats Now Using Activist Judges To Subvert Constitution, Fight Trump (Video)
• Treasury Secretary Blocked From Treasury Payment Systems By Activist Judge. What’s Next? The Commander-In-Chief Can’t Direct The Military?
• “We have to F**k Trump” – Maxine Dexter, Democrat Strategist…er, Congresswoman

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