Supreme Court allows foreign aid freeze to continue for now

Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday paused a court order that would have forced the federal government to release about $2 billion in foreign aid payments. In an emergency appeal, the Trump administration said it could not process the payments by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday to meet the deadline set earlier this week by a lower federal court. Robert’s order did not address the case itself but gave the court time to review the arguments and required the plaintiffs to respond by Friday.

What is the background of the case? A group of nonprofit organizations earlier this month sued the Trump administration over its January order to suspend all funding provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development, known as USAID. U.S. District Court Judge Amir Ali on Feb. 13 issued a temporary restraining order requiring the administration to restore funding for foreign assistance. Days later, the judge partially granted a motion to enforce the order. The government on Feb. 25 said it would appeal the decision and submitted a motion to stay the order.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report about why the federal government is dismantling USAID.