The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a lower court order that told the Trump administration to release nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments by midnight on Wednesday in the dispute over its hold on U.S. Agency for International Development funds.
The Justice Department in an emergency filing contended that the administration needs more time to review outstanding payments for fraud and abuse and warned that complying with the rushed timeline could lead to irreversible financial harm. Without issuing comment about the merits of the case, the Supreme Court told parties to file additional responses to their chambers by Friday, according to a brief order by Chief Justice John Roberts.
“The order does not limit its abrupt deadline to respondents’ own invoices or letters of credit, instead apparently compelling the government to pay requests from any organization that has asked for such funds,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote.
The dispute stems from a lawsuit filed by aid groups and contractors challenging Trump’s executive order that froze foreign aid disbursements for a 90-day review. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, an appointee of President Donald Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, had previously ruled that the freeze was unlawful and issued a temporary restraining order in February requiring the government to lift it. However, the plaintiffs claim they still have not been paid.
On Tuesday, Ali issued a new ruling giving the administration until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday to release the funds, criticizing officials for failing to comply with his prior order. During a hearing, government lawyer Indraneel Sur was unable to specify any steps taken to process the payments.
Ali’s latest ruling marked the third time he had ordered the administration to release foreign aid funds that were frozen after Trump ordered a 90-pause on all foreign aid.
Trump’s request came as the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia refused to halt the midnight deadline Wednesday evening. The Trump administration has “not shown that the enforcement orders disrupt the status quo by requiring them to do anything more than they would have had to do absent the temporarily restrained agency actions, which are the subject of ongoing preliminary injunction briefing,” according to the three-judge panel’s decision.
JUDGE SAYS TRUMP HAS NOT COMPLIED WITH RULING ON SUSPENSION OF FOREIGN AID
Plaintiffs in the case say Trump’s sweeping aid freeze, including the stop-work orders halting USAID around the world, have thrown global humanitarian relief efforts into disarray.
But the administration argues that the order’s sweeping nature, covering all foreign aid recipients, improperly limits the president’s discretion and circumvents standard review processes.
