Supreme Court Upholds Order Forcing Trump Admin, USAID to Pay Contractors

The Supreme Court upheld a lower court order on Wednesday requiring the Trump administration to pay $2 billion to contractors for foreign aid work that has already been done. 

The Details: The case began two weeks ago when the Trump administration froze funding for USAID. The AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council challenged the administration's freeze, and Federal Judge Amir Ali, a Biden appointee, issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to allow funding to continue while he examined the merits of the case. He later ordered the administration to immediately pay its foreign aid bills for services performed prior to the TRO. With the deadline for compliance just a few hours away, the administration appealed to Chief Justice John Roberts, who issued an “administrative stay” providing more time for briefs to be submitted. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court sided with Ali in a 5-4 decision. 

What's Next: NPR (Lean Left bias) said the court's decision is unlikely to be the final word. Dan McLaughlin (Right) pointed out in the National Review (Right) that the administration may argue that Ali did not have the authority to force it to pay foreign aid bills to organizations who were not involved in the lawsuit. He added that the administration is unlikely to pay the $2 billion until it exhausts all appeal options because once it pays, it's unlikely to get the money back if it wins on appeal. The Washington Examiner (Lean Right) noted, “The decision also signals that not all justices are willing to back Trump’s expansive view of executive power in every case.”