U.S. Supreme Court upholds ruling ordering Trump administration to fulfil $2B in USAID contracts
Narrow ruling represents one of the first major SCOTUS interventions in Trump's 2nd-term actions
A divided U.S. Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to let President Donald Trump's administration withhold payment to foreign aid organizations for work they already performed for the government, as the Republican president moves to pull the plug on American humanitarian projects around the world.
In a 5-4 decision, the court upheld Washington-based U.S. District Judge Amir Ali's order that had called on the administration to promptly release funding 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 fellow conservative Amy Coney Barrett joined the court's three liberal members to form a majority in rejecting the Trump administration's request. Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented from the decision.
Ali, presiding over an ongoing legal challenge to Trump's policy, had originally given the administration until Feb. 26 to disburse the funding, which it has said totalled nearly $2 billion US.
Roberts paused that order hours before the midnight deadline to give the Supreme Court additional time to consider the administration's more formal request to block Ali's ruling. The Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices Trump appointed during his first presidential term.
Alito scathing in dissent
The court did not provide a rationale for its unsigned order on Wednesday. With the original deadline now lapsed, the court instructed Ali to "clarify what obligations the government must fulfil to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines."
Ali has a hearing scheduled for Thursday on the request by the plaintiffs for a preliminary injunction. The judge has a temporary restraining order currently in place that lasts through March 10.
Alito, in a dissent that was joined by three fellow conservatives, expressed dismay in the court'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] 2 billion taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic 'No,' but a majority of this court apparently thinks otherwise," Alito wrote. "I am stunned."
The Republican president ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid on his first day back in office on Jan. 20. That order, and ensuing stop-work orders halting USAID operations around the world, have jeopardized delivery of life-saving food and medical aid, throwing global humanitarian relief efforts into chaos.
Aid organizations accused Trump in lawsuits of exceeding his authority under federal law and the U.S. Constitution by effectively dismantling an independent federal agency and cancelling spending authorized by Congress.
Democrats slam Musk-led team
Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest person, have taken dramatic steps to reshape and shrink the federal government. They have dismantled some agencies, fired thousands of workers, dismissed or reassigned hundreds of officials and removed the heads of independent agencies, among other actions.
Many of the moves have come as a result of work undertaken by an initiative called the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), though it is not a Congress-approved department.
Musk has characterized much USAID funding as fraudulent, though Democrats have charged that Musk statements on specific agency initiatives have largely only highlighted actions he disagrees with politically, such as measures to provide condoms to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Democrats have also expressed alarm at members of Musk's DOGE team, who were not confirmed by Congress, having access to sensitive governmental, personal and payment data related to the federal civil service.
As he moves to end American-backed humanitarian efforts in numerous countries, Trump's administration has sent funding termination notices to key organizations in the global aid community. Global aid groups have said the U.S. retreat endangers the lives of millions of the world's most vulnerable people, including those facing deadly diseases and those living in conflict zones.
Payments may not be immediate
Among the plaintiffs in the litigation are the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, Journalism Development Network, international development company DAI Global and refugee assistance organization HIAS.
Acting solicitor general Sarah Harris said in a Supreme Court filing on March 3 that Ali's order amounted to judicial overreach and had given the administration too little time to scrutinize the invoices "to ensure the legitimacy of all payments." Lawyers representing the administration said in a separate Feb. 26 filing that full payments could take weeks to process.
Aid organizations said in a Supreme Court filing on Feb. 28 that they "would face extraordinary and irreversible harm if the funding freeze continues," as would their employees and those who depend on their work.
The work done by the organizations "advances U.S. interests abroad and improves — and, in many cases, literally saves — the lives of millions of people across the globe. In doing so, it helps stop problems like disease and instability overseas before they reach our shores," lawyers for the foreign aid groups wrote.
The Trump administration had kept the disputed payments largely frozen despite a temporary restraining order from Ali that they be released, and multiple subsequent orders that the administration comply. Ali issued his temporary restraining order to prevent irreparable harm to the plaintiffs while he considers their claims.
With files from CBC News