- The Supreme Court halted a lower court’s order for Trump to release USAID funds.
- Chief Justice John Roberts granted the stay but provided no reason for the decision in the ruling.
- This stay gives the Supreme Court time to evaluate the case and decide whether the Trump administration must release funds.
The Supreme Court issued a ruling on Wednesday night that halted a lower court’s order for President Donald Trump to release funding for the US Agency for International Development.
In its February 26 ruling, the SCOTUS blocked a court order from District Judge Amir Ali related to two cases brought against the Trump administration by aid organizations including the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council.
Ali’s ruling on the cases would have compelled the Trump administration to release foreign aid dollars to grant recipients and USAID contractors by midnight on Wednesday.
But the SCOTUS halted Ali’s decision after attorneys for the Trump administration on Wednesday said in a court filing that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has already “made a final decision” on what organizations to award funds to.
Sarah Harris, the acting solicitor general, appealed to the SCOTUS on Wednesday to vacate the lower court’s order. In her filing, Harris said that the “district court’s imminent and arbitrary deadline makes full compliance impossible.”
Harris added that the lower court’s order required the administration to disburse “nearly $2 billion by 11:59 p.m.”
“These payments cannot be accomplished in the time allotted by the Court and would instead take multiple weeks,” Harris wrote.
Chief Justice John Roberts granted the administrative stay but provided no reason for the decision in the ruling. Roberts has given the plaintiffs who sued the administration until Friday to respond.
The SCOTUS’ stay now gives the court time to evaluate and rule on the Trump administration’s request.
USAID was one of the first targets of the Department of Government Efficiency.
The cuts to USAID come after Trump, in a January 20 executive order, called for a 90-day freeze on foreign aid. That executive order and other actions have affected thousands of US workers.
Judges other than Ali have made rulings that slowed the Trump team’s attempts to dismantle USAID.
On February 7, Judge Carl Nichols issued a temporary restraining order that paused the administration’s USAID staff reductions. But USAID suffered a major court loss on February 21 when Nichols allowed headcount cuts to go ahead, reversing his previous order.
In 2024, USAID distributed close to $32.5 billion in aid, primarily to causes in Africa and the Middle East.
