Supreme Court denies Trump attempt to freeze foreign aid

In a 5-4 decision Wednesday the U.S. Supreme Court refused to lift a lower court’s order that the Trump administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid. The payments are reimbursements for work that has already been completed, according to the court’s ruling. The case will now go back to U.S. District Judge Amir Ali with a mandate for him to clarify what the government must do to comply with his earlier order. President Donald Trump had tried to withhold the funding as part of his administration’s goal to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, known as USAID.

Who disagreed? Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented with the decision. Alito wrote that they would have granted the government’s request to pause the lower court’s order. He added that a district court judge did not have the authority to compel the government to pay $2 billion of taxpayers’ money.

How did we get here and what happens next? A collection of nonprofit organizations last month sued the Trump administration over its decision to suspend all USAID funding. Judge Ali issued a temporary restraining order pausing the freeze and the federal government followed up with a motion to stay his order. Chief Justice John Roberts last week paused Ali’s order after the Trump administration said they could not meet a deadline to process the payments. Ali has scheduled a hearing for Thursday. His temporary restraining order in place lasts through March 10.

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