By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-03-06 00:16:04 | Updated at 2025-03-06 12:52:45
12 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // In a narrow 5-4 ruling Wednesday, the US Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid spending.
The ruling upheld an order from US District Judge Amir Ali, a Biden appointee, who compelled the Trump administration to distribute the taxpayer-funded aid by midnight on Feb. 25. Just hours before the deadline, the Trump administration filed an emergency appeal, arguing that the judge overstepped his authority.
The Court’s order directed Ali to reset deadlines for the Trump administration to release the payments since the original February deadline passed.
“Given that the deadline in the challenged order has now passed, and in light of the ongoing preliminary injunction proceedings, the District Court should clarify what obligations the Government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines,” the Court said.
The dispute stems from an executive order signed by Trump on his first day in office that paused foreign aid spending for 90 days to review whether it aligned with U.S. interests.
The administration argued that the freeze was necessary to ensure accountability and eliminate wasteful spending.
Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh, criticized the majority opinion in a scathing dissent.
“The government must apparently pay the $2 billion posthaste — not because the law requires it, but simply because a district judge so ordered,” Alito wrote. “As the nation’s highest court, we have a duty to ensure that the power entrusted to federal judges by the Constitution is not abused. Today, the Court fails to carry out that responsibility.”
Alito called the Court’s decision “too extreme a response,” while acknowledging “serious concerns about nonpayment for completed work.”
According to Fox News, “At issue is how quickly the Trump administration needs to pay the nearly $2 billion owed to aid groups and contractors for completed projects funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), at a time when the administration has issued a blanket freeze on all foreign spending in the name of government ‘efficiency’ and eliminating waste.”
The Trump administration has pushed to drastically reduce the influence and spending of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), shrinking the number of employees and pointing to reports of abuse.
In a video circulating on X, Fox News legal editor Kerri Urbahn said, “This is a significant setback for the Trump administration, and… the executive branch in general, and their ability to manage spending and look for waste, fraud, and abuse, as those payments go out the door.”
