- The Supreme Court has paused a judge's order that would require the Trump administration to dispense billions of dollars in foreign aid.
- The Trump administration says it needs more time to untangle "waste" from USAID and State Department foreign aid contracts.
- Trump's combing-through of foreign aid has incurred both intense support and intense backlash.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday placed an administrative stay on a federal judge’s order requiring President Donald Trump to dispense foreign aid, per Reuters.
Roberts did not provide any comment when he granted the stay, but did request that plaintiffs, or those that would benefit from the aid, submit responses by noon on Friday.
Efforts to unfreeze USAID funds
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2021, gave the Trump administration 36 hours to send out billions of dollars in foreign aid payments, per The Associated Press. The Trump administration argued the judge overstepped his bounds.
The case was brought forward by the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council, both of whom represent health organizations that use federal grants for their charitable work abroad.
The United States is the largest single provider of humanitarian aid around the world. In 2023, the United States spent $72 billion on foreign aid and development. So far, the Trump administration has cut over $58 billion in U.S. foreign assistance — part of his “America First” agenda — freezing these payments since Feb. 13.
NBC News reported that vaccine, food supply and other essential programs were frozen by Trump’s order, causing food and medicine spoilage.
Nonprofits and businesses who receive federal grants for work abroad have already experienced numerous consequences for the freeze, including having to lay off thousands of employees and even shut down for good.
While the Trump administration passed the Wednesday-night deadline imposed by Ali, it stated that it has now completed a review of foreign aid and made the decision to cancel about 90% of contracts.
Per Fox News, an executive memo reported that officials were “clearing significant waste stemming from decades of institutional drift.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who chairs the Senate’s DOGE Caucus, published a list of projects and programs funded by USAID that she used as examples of waste. The list included an Iraqi “Sesame Street”-like show that cost $20 million, funding to Afghanistan farmers intended to grow fruit that was used to grow poppies, and $1.5 million to diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Serbian workplaces.
Backlash to the Supreme Court’s decision
Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris with the administration petitioned the Supreme Court on Wednesday to pause Ali’s order and eventually lift it altogether.
She argued that Ali did not have the power to issue the order, saying the executive branch of the federal government traditionally controls foreign aid, not the courts.
She called Ali’s timeline “arbitrary” and said that the federal government should not be beholden to it.
Roberts granted her request.
Nonprofits, health care advocates and Democrats immediately expressed their disagreement with his decision.
“Ending programs first and asking questions later only jeopardizes millions of lives and creates a power vacuum for our adversaries like China and Russia to fill,” said a joint statement released by Democrat Congressmen including Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.
“The impact will be felt by American farmers who will no longer get top dollar for their crops to feed the hungry, churches who will no longer have the support of the US government in their missions, American families who fall sick when diseases like Zika, Ebola and Malaria once again reach our shores and US biotech companies who will no longer sell their drugs to treat the vulnerable overseas.”