U.S. Supreme Court upholds ruling ordering Trump administration to fulfil $2B in USAID contracts

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Mar 05, 2025 11:53 AM EST | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

A divided U.S. Supreme Court declined connected Wednesday to fto President Donald Trump's medication withhold outgo to overseas assistance organizations for enactment they already performed for the government, arsenic the Republican president moves to propulsion the plug connected American humanitarian projects astir the world.

In a 5-4 decision, the tribunal upheld Washington-based U.S. District Judge Amir Ali's bid that had called connected the medication to promptly merchandise backing to contractors and recipients of grants from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department for their past work.

Chief Justice John Roberts and chap blimpish Amy Coney Barrett joined the court's 3 wide members to signifier a bulk successful rejecting the Trump administration's request. Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented from the decision.

Ali, presiding implicit an ongoing ineligible situation to Trump's policy, had primitively fixed the medication until Feb. 26 to disburse the funding, which it has said totalled astir $2 cardinal US.

Roberts paused that bid hours earlier the midnight deadline to springiness the Supreme Court further clip to see the administration's much ceremonial petition to artifact Ali's ruling. The Supreme Court's 6-3 blimpish bulk includes 3 justices Trump appointed during his archetypal statesmanlike term.

Alito scathing successful dissent

The tribunal did not supply a rationale for its unsigned bid connected Wednesday. With the archetypal deadline present lapsed, the tribunal instructed Ali to "clarify what obligations the authorities indispensable fulfil to guarantee compliance with the impermanent restraining order, with owed respect for the feasibility of immoderate compliance timelines."

Ali has a proceeding scheduled for Thursday connected the petition by the plaintiffs for a preliminary injunction. The justice has a impermanent restraining bid presently successful spot that lasts done March 10.

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Alito, successful a dissent that was joined by 3 chap conservatives, expressed dismay successful the court's decision.

"Does a azygous territory tribunal justice who apt lacks jurisdiction person the unchecked powerfulness to compel the authorities of the United States to wage retired [and astir apt suffer forever] 2 cardinal payer dollars? The reply to that question should beryllium an emphatic 'No,' but a bulk of this tribunal seemingly thinks otherwise," Alito wrote. "I americium stunned."

The Republican president ordered a 90-day intermission connected each overseas assistance connected his archetypal time backmost successful bureau connected Jan. 20. That order, and ensuing stop-work orders halting USAID operations astir the world, person jeopardized transportation of life-saving nutrient and aesculapian aid, throwing planetary humanitarian alleviation efforts into chaos.

Aid organizations accused Trump successful lawsuits of exceeding his authorization nether national instrumentality and the U.S. Constitution by efficaciously dismantling an autarkic national bureau and cancelling spending authorized by Congress.

Democrats slam Musk-led team

Trump and his advisor Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest person, person taken melodramatic steps to reshape and shrink the national government. They person dismantled immoderate agencies, fired thousands of workers, dismissed oregon reassigned hundreds of officials and removed the heads of autarkic agencies, among different actions. 

Many of the moves person travel arsenic a effect of enactment undertaken by an inaugural called the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), though it is not a Congress-approved department.

Musk has characterized overmuch USAID backing arsenic fraudulent, though Democrats person charged that Musk statements connected circumstantial bureau initiatives person mostly lone highlighted actions helium disagrees with politically, specified arsenic measures to supply condoms to forestall the dispersed of HIV/AIDS.

Democrats person besides expressed alarm astatine members of Musk's DOGE team, who were not confirmed by Congress, having entree to delicate governmental, idiosyncratic and outgo information related to the national civilian service.

As helium moves to extremity American-backed humanitarian efforts successful galore countries, Trump's medication has sent backing termination notices to cardinal organizations successful the planetary assistance community. Global assistance groups person said the U.S. retreat endangers the lives of millions of the world's astir susceptible people, including those facing deadly diseases and those surviving successful struggle zones.

Payments whitethorn not beryllium immediate

Among the plaintiffs successful the litigation are the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, Journalism Development Network, planetary improvement institution DAI Global and exile assistance enactment HIAS.

Acting solicitor wide Sarah Harris said successful a Supreme Court filing connected March 3 that Ali's bid amounted to judicial overreach and had fixed the medication excessively small clip to scrutinize the invoices "to guarantee the legitimacy of each payments." Lawyers representing the medication said successful a abstracted Feb. 26 filing that afloat payments could instrumentality weeks to process.

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Aid organizations said successful a Supreme Court filing connected Feb. 28 that they "would look bonzer and irreversible harm if the backing frost continues," arsenic would their employees and those who beryllium connected their work.

The enactment done by the organizations "advances U.S. interests overseas and improves — and, successful galore cases, virtually saves — the lives of millions of radical crossed the globe. In doing so, it helps halt problems similar illness and instability overseas earlier they scope our shores," lawyers for the overseas assistance groups wrote.

The Trump medication had kept the disputed payments mostly frozen contempt a impermanent restraining bid from Ali that they beryllium released, and aggregate consequent orders that the medication comply. Ali issued his impermanent restraining bid to forestall irreparable harm to the plaintiffs portion helium considers their claims.