The U.S. Supreme Court on March 5 reinstated an order requiring President Donald Trump’s administration to unfreeze international aid, but it is unclear how quickly these funds can be released.
In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court rejected an urgent appeal from the U.S. administration while asking District Judge Amir Ali to clarify his earlier order that demanded the swift unfreezing of nearly $2 billion in aid for work that had already been completed.
Although this decision may be seen as a short-term loss for the Trump administration, nonprofit groups and businesses that have sued are still waiting for the funds they claim they are owed. One of the organizations was forced to lay off 110 employees last week due to the lack of funding, court documents stated.
Justice Samuel Alito was among the four justices who opposed the ruling, stating that Ali did not have the authority to order the payments. Alito wrote that he was surprised the Court was “imposing a $2 billion penalty on American taxpayers.”
The Supreme Court’s decision upholds the temporary injunction issued by Judge Ali, who had suspended the freeze on spending. Ali will hold a hearing to consider a longer suspension.
The majority of the justices in the ruling said that the administration had not challenged the initial order from Judge Ali, but only the deadline, which expired last week.
The Supreme Court told Judge Ali to “clarify what obligations the Government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order.”
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, both conservatives, joined three other liberal justices to form the majority for this decision.
The Trump administration argued that the situation had changed since the initial freeze, as it shifted from a general block on spending to individual assessments that led to the cancellation of 5,800 contracts from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and 4,100 other grants from the State Department, totaling nearly $60 billion.
