Chief Justice Roberts Issues Temporary Stay on Trump Foreign Aid Case
Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily sided with President Donald Trump by pausing a lower court order that would have forced the administration to immediately release billions in foreign aid — money the president has argued undermines U.S. foreign policy and national sovereignty.
In a brief order, Roberts granted an administrative stay halting enforcement of U.S. District Judge Amir Ali’s Sept. 3 ruling. Ali, a Biden appointee, had ordered the administration to spend roughly $5 billion in foreign aid, claiming the executive branch must follow congressional appropriations unless lawmakers take new action.
The move gives the Court time to weigh the Trump administration’s appeal. Roberts gave the aid groups suing over the freeze until noon Friday to respond.
At stake is nearly $11 billion in taxpayer-funded foreign aid earmarked for U.N. programs and so-called “democracy promotion” efforts overseas. By law, the money must be obligated by Sept. 30, or it expires. President Trump has argued that at least $4 billion of that aid directly conflicts with America’s national interest and should not be handed out.
The president has long pushed to scale back U.S. foreign assistance as part of his America First agenda, including moves earlier this year to dismantle much of USAID — the federal agency that doles out billions annually to international programs.
Aid organizations sued, accusing Trump of overriding Congress’s “power of the purse.” But administration attorneys have maintained that presidents have broad discretion when it comes to executing spending laws, especially in foreign affairs.
Solicitor General John Sauer stressed that forcing the administration to comply would be disastrous to U.S. diplomacy. “To have any hope of complying in time, the Executive Branch would have to immediately commence diplomatic discussions with foreign nations about the use of those funds—discussions the president considers counterproductive to foreign policy—and notify Congress about planned obligations that the president is strongly opposing,” Sauer argued in his application to the Court.
The administration is relying on a legal mechanism called a “pocket rescission,” where the president can notify Congress near the end of a fiscal year of his intent to withhold funds. If the timing prevents Congress from acting before the deadline, the funds lapse. Trump issued such notice on Aug. 28.
Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, defended the maneuver earlier this month. “We would never view that Congress doesn’t have the power of the purse, but the executive has the power to spend,” Vought said at the National Conservatism Conference.
The clash underscores a much larger battle over constitutional separation of powers. While Democrats and activist groups demand that billions be sent overseas, Trump’s administration insists that U.S. taxpayer dollars should serve American citizens first.
Earlier this year, the administration scored another major victory when a federal appeals court lifted a block on Trump’s plan to cancel $16 billion in climate grants.
For now, Roberts’ order ensures the foreign aid remains frozen while the justices decide whether the president can continue exercising his authority to withhold funds. If the stay is overturned, the administration would be forced to rush out payments by the end of the month — directly undermining Trump’s America First vision.