A divided US supreme court has rejected the Trump administration’s request to continue freezing nearly $2bn in foreign aid, marking a setback for the White House and the tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tasked with slashing the size of the US government and its spending.
In a 5-4 decision released on Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett joined the liberal justices in leaving in place a ruling from a US district judge last month, which ordered the administration to unfreeze the nearly $2bn in aid for work that had already been done, and that had been approved by Congress.
The unsigned brief released on Wednesday by the supreme court did not provide an explanation for its ruling. However, it instructed Judge Amir Ali to clarify his previous order concerning what obligations the government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the order.
Four of the court’s conservative justices, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, dissented from the decision.
In his dissent, Alito expressed that he was “stunned” by the majority’s 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) billion[s in] taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic ‘No,’ but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise,” he wrote.
When Donald Trump took office on 20 January, he ordered a 90-day freeze on all US foreign assistance, while his administration reviewed whether aid was consistent with his “America First” foreign policy, temporarily ending thousands of programs worldwide.
This decision caused chaos and aid groups have said that critical delivery of life-saving medication and food for populations and communities around the world had been halted.
In response, several aid organizations that had received grants or contracts with the US government sued the Trump administration, requesting that a federal judge intervene and release the funds.
Judge Ali ordered that the funding be temporarily restored on 13 February.
But, over a week later, he found the government was not complying with his order, and ruled that the administration must temporarily lift the funding freeze and release the funds to the thousands of contractors and non-profit organizations. He set a deadline for this action to be completed by midnight on 26 February.
Ali ruled that the Trump administration was prohibited from pausing foreign aid spending appropriated before Trump took office.
He wrote in his order at the time that Trump administration officials had “not offered any explanation for why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid, which set off a shockwave … was a rational precursor to reviewing programs”.
The Trump administration then filed an emergency request with the supreme court and Chief Justice Roberts initially paused the deadline to allow the court more time to review the request and hear from both sides.
In court filings, the foreign aid organizations argued that the prolonged funding freeze would cause them “extraordinary and irreversible harm” affecting not only their operations but also their employees and the communities that depend on their assistance.
On Wednesday, a majority of the supreme court decided to deny the administration’s request and to uphold Ali’s ruling.
Since the original deadline of 26 February has now passed, the supreme court instructed Ali to “clarify what obligations the government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines”.
Ali is scheduled to hold a hearing on Thursday regarding the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction.
According to the Just Security tracker, there have been 96 legal challenges to the actions of the Trump administration to date.
