The Trump administration will continue its freeze on foreign aid funds after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a federal court order requiring the U.S. government to release $2 billion in frozen aid.
Roberts issued the order in response to an emergency appeal filed late Wednesday by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, just hours before it was required to comply with District Court Judge Amir Ali's directive to restore funding. This came after a panel of federal appeals court judges denied the administration's earlier request for an extension.
Judge Ali had ordered the State Department and USAID to resume payments on foreign aid contracts and grants by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. However, Roberts’ administrative stay temporarily halts that order, allowing the Supreme Court time to review the administration’s formal appeal.
Before the three-judge panel’s rejection of the emergency appeal, Ali had already denied the administration’s request for an extension, which was based on claims that it “[needed] more time to unfreeze the funds” and that meeting the court’s deadline would be “impossible.” The judge dismissed this argument, stating that the administration had nearly two weeks to comply but had taken no meaningful steps to release the funds.
Ali also noted that the administration’s claim of impossibility “is not something that Defendants have previously raised in this court.”
The federal order to suspend the funding freeze stemmed from a lawsuit by the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Journalism Development Network, OCCRP’s parent organization. The lawsuit argued that President Trump lacked the authority to freeze international aid contracts while they were under review.
Non-profits are to respond to the stay order on Thursday.
Shortly before Roberts’ decision, the administration filed a court document stating that it was proceeding with its foreign aid cuts, having completed the review process. The filing revealed that nearly $60 billion in aid had been eliminated, affecting almost 5,800 USAID contracts, while over 500 awards were retained. “USAID is in the process of processing termination letters with the goal to reach substantial completion within the next 24-48 hours,” the statement read.
According to an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press, the eliminated contracts account for over 90% of USAID’s total agreements.
“This is further evidence that [the U.S.] is barreling toward a full-blown constitutional crisis,” said U.S. Senator Chris Murphy in a statement. He condemned the foreign aid cuts, accusing the administration of attempting to bypass Congress and the courts by announcing the completion of a “sham review” and the immediate termination of thousands of aid programs worldwide.
