Supreme Court justice allows U.S. to continue freezing foreign aid payments

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Wednesday granted President Donald Trump's administration a victory for the moment, saying the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department do not need to immediately pay more than $1.5 billion for aid work already done, The New York Times reported, writes UNN.

Details

A federal judge has set a midnight deadline for agencies to unlock funds for foreign aid work that was withheld because of the president's first-day directive to cut U.S. spending abroad.

The Trump administration, in an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court just hours before the deadline, said the judge overstepped his authority and interfered with the president's duty to “make appropriate foreign assistance determinations.

Chief Justice Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court issued an “administrative stay,” a temporary measure designed to maintain the status quo while the justices consider the matter more deliberatively. The chief justice ordered the petitioners to file a response to the application on Friday, and the court will likely issue a decision shortly thereafter.

“However tentative, the suspension was the administration's first victory in a flood of cases for judges to consider because of President Trump's lightning-fast actions,” the publication wrote.

Trump administration terminates over 90% of USAID foreign aid awards27.02.2025, 11:12 • 101302 views

Supplement

Trump and other top U.S. officials insist that foreign aid, which makes up about 1 percent of the federal budget, has become wasteful and disconnected from America's vital interests.

But critics warn that Trump is making a catastrophic mistake, saying his attacks on foreign aid “dangerously undermine America's ability to win,” as Liz Schreier, president of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, said in a statement.