Roberts gives Trump green light to withhold foreign aid

WASHINGTON (CN) — Chief Justice John Roberts halted the release of billions in congressionally appropriated funds for international aid groups on Tuesday, letting President Donald Trump exercise unilateral authority over money earmarked by Congress for now.

Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, issued an administrative stay temporarily blocking a lower court ruling that would release around $4 billion in U.S. Agency for International Development contracts.

Last week, Trump sent a rescission notice to House Speaker Mike Johnson, demanding that Congress vote to cut the spending through a move known as a “pocket rescission.”

Under the Impoundment Control Act, the White House can place a 45-day hold on the budget line item it wants lawmakers to rescind. However, the Trump administration issued its pause less than 45 days before the end of the fiscal year, a timing loophole that effectively allows the administration to cancel the foreign aid funding without congressional approval.

The interim order holds the funds subject to Trump’s rescission proposal until the entire court issues a ruling on the administration’s pending emergency appeal.

Nonprofits and private companies sued the administration after the wholesale pause of congressionally approved funds earlier this year. Trump claimed to cut off USAID funding to root out wasteful programs that do not align with his policy goals. Since then, overseas nonprofit groups and businesses have laid off tens of thousands of staff and shut down urgent lifesaving programs.

The AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council said the abrupt loss of funds caused severe harm to contractors and those who relied on their services. Trump countered, stating that forcing the government’s hand threatened to expend enormous sums of taxpayer dollars without conducting basic diligence to ensure that payments are free from fraud and abuse.

Months after slashing the agency’s funding, Trump officially shut down USAID in July.

USAID programs saved more than 90 million lives over the past two decades, according to a July study published in the Lancet. Researchers estimated that if the Trump administration’s funding cuts continue through 2030, 14 million people who might have otherwise lived could die.

The high court issued a split ruling in March when the case first came before the justices, refusing to block $12 billion in funding disbursement for USAID contractors.

The administration was forced to pay nearly $2 billion in contractual work completed prior to a pause on foreign aid funds. Trump urged the justices to step in again last month to prevent the government from being forced to hand over billions more in contract funding before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.

Trump quickly withdrew the appeal after a favorable ruling from the D.C. Circuit.

The contractors returned to the lower court, looking for another path to securing funds. The court held that the administration likely had to disburse all appropriated funds. The administration said it was committed to releasing $6.5 billion in funds, but the lower court issued an order last week compelling the disbursement anyway.

Trump returned the case to the high court on Monday, marking the third time an emergency appeal has been filed in the dispute. He warned that a single lower court wanted to supplant Congress’ and the president’s authority over appropriations.

U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer claimed that without the justices’ intervention, tax dollars would be erroneously spent in conflict with American values.

“Not only did the district court inject itself into a political process where the judiciary lacks comparative expertise, but it did so in the context of foreign policy decisions that have ‘long been held to belong in the domain of political power not subject to judicial intrusion or inquiry,’” Sauer wrote.

Roberts granted a similar request Monday in another emergency appeal seeking to fire a Democratic member on the Federal Trade Commission. While only temporary, both stays follow a pattern among the administration’s over two dozen emergency appeals: Trump tends to come out on top.

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