WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order to keep billions of dollars in foreign aid frozen.
The central issue in the legal dispute revolves around nearly $5 billion in aid approved by Congress. President Donald Trump declared last month that he would withhold this spending, citing controversial authority last utilized by a president about 50 years ago.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled that the Republican administration’s decision to withhold the funding was likely illegal.
In a letter dated August 28, Trump informed House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., that he intended to withhold $4.9 billion in foreign aid approved by Congress, effectively slashing the budget without legislative approval.
This maneuver is known as a pocket rescission, where a president requests Congress at the end of a budget year to hold off on spending the previously allocated money. Due to the timing, Congress cannot respond within the required 45-day period, resulting in the funds remaining unspent.
Ali said Congress would have to approve the rescission proposal for the administration to withhold the money.
The legislation is clear that congressional action, rather than the President’s submission of a special message, initiates the rescission of previously allocated funds, he explained.
The administration turned to the high court after a panel of federal appellate judges declined to block Ali’s ruling.
Last month, Justice Department attorneys informed a federal judge that an additional $6.5 billion in aid, which had also been frozen, would be disbursed before the fiscal year ended on September 30.
The case has been winding its way through the courts for months.
Nonprofit groups, which have taken legal action against the government, argue that the funding freeze violates federal law and has halted financing for critical, life-saving initiatives abroad.
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