I thought this could go either way, and the 5-4 vote shows it might have.
Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Pause on Foreign-Aid Payouts
The Wall Street Journal reports Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Pause on Foreign-Aid Payouts
A divided Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s emergency request to pause foreign-aid funding, refusing to suspend a lower court order that required the government to pay contractors nearly $2 billion for work they already have performed.
Last week, Chief Justice John Roberts briefly paused a deadline for the government to make the payments. The order Wednesday, which came on a 5-4 vote, removed that hold. The court’s majority, however, instructed the federal trial judge overseeing the case to consider “the feasibility of any compliance timelines,” apparently in response to the government’s argument that an earlier deadline was too difficult to meet.
The court’s unsigned order was one of its first actions over Trump’s aggressive effort to remake the federal government. More than 100 lawsuits have been filed by states, individuals and private organizations claiming that the administration is breaking the law and harming their rights.
It also suggested deep divisions within the court over Trump’s unilateral actions. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in the majority. The four most conservative justices said the administration’s request should have been granted.
Does a single federal judge “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,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in dissent, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. He added: “I am stunned.”
The ruling came after U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington, D.C., last month issued a temporary restraining order that blocked the government from canceling all aid contracts while legal proceedings continued, finding the categorical spending freeze was likely unlawful.
During its first few weeks, the Trump administration largely dismantled the work of the 10,000-person U.S. Agency for International Development and the thousands of people in nonprofits and other groups that work with it. Its headquarters was closed, its name taken off the building, and most of its staff put on paid leave. Employees stationed overseas were ordered to come home within a month.
Several lawsuits have challenged the administration’s actions.
The case at issue was brought by groups providing AIDS relief and other services. They challenged the administration’s decision to suspend distribution of aid that had already been approved by Congress.
The aid recipients complained that the administration continued to revoke contracts and block payments even after the order. Judge Ali declined to hold the government in contempt but on Feb. 25 issued an order that required the $2 billion be paid by midnight the next day. Additional proceedings are pending before Ali in the district court.
Cancellation or Timing?
The Supreme Court’s Wednesday order was brief, but it stressed that the case was still in preliminary stages and that the government wasn’t contesting the order by Judge Ali to pay the contractors, only the timeline he set for doing so.
So, team Trump is no longer even arguing USAID would be shut down. Fancy that after Musk’s hype about shutting it down.
Rather, Trump now just wants to approve the timeline at which payments go out, but it wants too long to decide.
This gets back to a point I made in the beginning.
USAID Cancellation by Trump, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Details
On February 6, I commented USAID Cancellation by Trump, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Details
The Good
Rooting out fraud and ridiculous unauthorized payments is good. Moreover, there is grounds to fire everyone who sent out checks without questioning a single one.
The Bad
Sorry DOGE, but a blanket cancellation of all payments is unconstitutional.
The Ugly
Elon Musk has no power to do anything but advise the President and make recommendations.
Also in the ugly category is the simple fact that many if not most of the payments are legitimate. By legitimate, I mean genuinely authorized by Congress, not that I think they are a good idea.
The Right Approach
What Trump should have done is allow Musk to search for questionable items and report them.
That part happened, but in an ugly way.
Then Trump could legitimately block those items. Also he could have directed USAID to look at and question every expense, flagging and temporarily those that are questionable.
Instead, Trump blocked everything except for “critical items” whatever that means.
The Unfortunate Reality
There is no advantage in releasing Musk in a China shop than releasing George Soros in the same China shop. No good will come from a reckless smashing of plates.
And the unfortunate impact might very well be the courts block everything when some very good things may have happened if Trump took a legitimate case-by-case look.
Lawsuits are pending and Trump will lose. We should not be in this setup.
Also recall, Elon Musk says he and Trump are shutting down USAID
Musk, the head of Trump’s government efficiency initiative, announced the shutdown in the middle of the night in an audio-only appearance on his social media site X.
But Musk has no power to shut down anything.
No one should defend this because the only legitimate role of DOGE is to make recommendations.
My Warning Then Is Now Reality
As I said on February 6, “The unfortunate impact might very well be the courts block everything when some very good things may have happened if Trump took a legitimate case-by-case look.“
That this quite conservative court overruled Trump on timing does not bode well for Trump’s more ridiculous actions such as ending birthright citizenship.
As I also said on February 6, “We should not be in this setup.”
Expect many more losses in Court, but some victories too. Most of the big cases will be Trump losses.
This court smackdown is a good thing. I don’t want Trump running roughshod over the Constitution any more than I did Biden. Hypocrites, of course, don’t see it that way.
Perhaps the resolution to this is a 30-day hold instead of 90. I am fine with reasonable actions and we would not be here with reasonable actions. Unfortunately, this could easily turn into a total loss.
However, I do expect Trump to salvage something, eventually, but less than he taken a more reasonable approach.
Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order
I have discussed Trump’s ridiculous executive order ending birthright citizenship many times.
My most recent synopsis was February 20, 2025 in Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order
Trump’s case on birthright citizenship is so weak that the Supreme Court might not even take it.