Supreme Court allows Trump to keep $5 billion in foreign aid frozen
The ruling keeps the aforementioned funds frozen for the duration of the court proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Supreme Court justices during Trump's inauguration/ Chip Somodevilla.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Trump Administration and allowed it to keep frozen $5 billion in foreign aid approved by Congress. The ruling keeps the aforementioned funds frozen for the duration of the judicial process in the District Court for the District of Columbia.
The emergency ruling was unsigned and was decided 6-3, with Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett in the majority. "This order should not be read as a final determination on the merits. The relief granted by the Court today reflects our preliminary view, consistent with the standards for interim relief," the justices said.
In late August, the Department of Justice asked the country's highest court to intervene urgently through a procedure known as 'emergency application.' This judicial remedy is used when one of the parties understands that the issue is too urgent to go through the entire judicial process, so it asks to go directly up to the Supreme Court.
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The Court ruled in favor of the White House and allowed foreign aid funds to continue to be frozen until the case is resolved in the lower courts.
Shortly after taking office for his second term, Donald Trump signed an executive order to "reevaluate and realign" foreign aid, suspending development, global health, and other aid programs.
In February, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali issued an order preventing the Trump Administration from cutting off the aforementioned funds. "This case raises questions of immense legal and practical importance, including whether there is any avenue to test the executive branch’s decision not to spend congressionally appropriated funds," Ali said of the case.
Subsequently, came the Trump Administration's request for the Court to take up the case on an emergency basis.
Trump and the use of 'pocket rescission'
The concept comes from the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA), which regulates what a president can do if he wants to cancel or delay spending that Congress has already approved. Since Congress has 45 business days to approve the proposal, the president sends the rescission package near the close of the fiscal year. Because the 45 business days extend beyond the fiscal close, the money can expire even before lawmakers vote on it.
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