Supreme Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Attempt to Cancel $2 Billion in Foreign Aid
In a closely split 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s request to cancel nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments that were already approved under existing contracts.
The ruling marks a setback for the administration as it continues efforts to significantly reshape federal spending across government agencies. This is the first time Trump’s attempts to overhaul funding priorities have reached the nation’s highest court.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s three liberal justices in ruling against the administration. Meanwhile, the four remaining conservative justices—Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh—dissented.
Justice Alito, writing for the dissenting justices, expressed strong disapproval of the decision. “Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) $2 billion in taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic ‘No,’ but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise. I am stunned,” he wrote.
The Trump administration has made repeated attempts to scale back the operations of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), including cutting staff and freezing payments to contractors. These efforts have triggered multiple legal challenges.
With this ruling, the Supreme Court leaves in place a lower court’s order requiring the administration to uphold foreign aid agreements that were approved before Trump took office.