WH Asks Supreme Court to Halt Foreign Aid Payments

President Donald Trump's administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to intervene in its efforts to withhold billions of dollars from foreign aid organizations and lift an injunction that is forcing it to keep making payments.

The U.S. Department of Justice, in an emergency filing with the 6-3 conservative  majority court, noted that a 2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit earlier this month ruled the injunction should be overturned.

Despite that ruling, the injunction issued by Washington-based U.S. District Judge Amir Ali remains in effect, after the full federal appeals court last week declined to put it on hold. Ali rejected a similar request on Monday.

Trump imposed a 90-day pause on all foreign aid on Jan. 20, the day that he was inaugurated for a second term in the White House.

His executive order was followed by aggressive moves to pare USAID, the main U.S. foreign aid agency, including placing much of its staff on leave and exploring bringing the formerly independent agency under the State Department.

Two nonprofit groups that receive federal funding, AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and Journalism Development Network, brought litigation alleging Trump's funding freeze was unlawful.

The Trump administration in its filing to the Supreme Court said the congressionally appropriated funds subject to the injunction comprise tens of billions of dollars, some $12 billion of which would need to be spent by the U.S. Department of State before Sept. 30, when they expire.

The Republican president's administration said that without the justices' intervention, it will be forced to keep making payments before the expiration date, "overriding the Executive Branch’s foreign-policy judgments regarding whether to pursue rescissions and thwarting interbranch dialog."

Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ali, an appointee of Democrat President Joe Biden, ordered the Trump administration to pay nearly $2 billion in outstanding aid to its humanitarian partners worldwide. The U.S. Supreme Court in March by a 5-4 vote declined to let the administration avoid making those payments.

But the D.C. Circuit panel ruled that the nonprofit groups failed to satisfy the requirements for an injunction. U.S. Circuit Judge Karen Henderson, writing for the majority, said only the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a watchdog agency, could challenge Trump's efforts to withhold the funding.