Trump Administration Urges Supreme Court to Halt Lower Court Order on $12 Billion Foreign Aid Spending
The Trump Administration petitioned the Supreme Court on Tuesday, seeking intervention in a contentious dispute over billions of dollars in foreign aid. The administration maintains that failure to intervene would compel it to disburse the funds against its foreign policy judgments due to a lower court’s decision remaining active.
The emergency appeal, filed on Tuesday, requests the Supreme Court to address the matter by next week. The Department of Justice contends that this intervention is necessary to avoid “irreparable diplomatic costs.” Despite an appeals court ruling in favor of President Donald Trump earlier this month, a lower court’s decision requiring the funds to be spent remains in effect.
In the absence of Supreme Court action, the administration claims that the lower court decision could obligate approximately $12 billion in foreign aid funds, overriding the administration’s foreign policy decisions.
A panel of three judges from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled in favor of the administration earlier this month. Their ruling established that only the legislative branch can institute legal action against an administration regarding changes to congressionally approved spending, not the non-profit groups who had sued over proposed drastic cuts. This ruling reversed a previous decision by a lower court that had prevented the administration from implementing these cuts.
However, the case has been appealed to the full DC Circuit and is currently under consideration. Meanwhile, lower courts have declined to suspend the district court’s decision against Trump, effectively keeping it in force.
The administration argues in its filing that the district court has essentially assumed the role of a supervisor for further spending and rescissions proposals. The court’s order would require the government to make available tens of billions of dollars in appropriated foreign aid funds and spend billions by September 30, according to the administration.
The administration is seeking the Supreme Court’s intervention to halt the district court’s ruling by September 2, to prevent “extensive preliminary steps that themselves inflict irreparable harm on the United States.”
The dispute centers around billions of dollars allocated for global health and HIV/AIDS programs by Congress, intended for distribution by the State Department and USAID. The recipients of these funds have initiated legal action.
The case has previously reached the Supreme Court, with a narrow majority initially denying the administration’s request to keep the money frozen in March. However, this decision allowed the litigation to continue in lower courts.