Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily postponed the Trump administration’s midnight deadline to unfreeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments, imposed by a lower court who found the administration had violated his ruling.
The administration stated that it could not resume payments on the short timeline set by U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, who on Tuesday directed the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to resume funding for foreign aid contracts and grants by the end of Wednesday.
“This new order, which requires the payment of enormous sums of foreign assistance money in less than 36 hours, infringes on the Executive Branch’s authority. In matters of foreign affairs, the President’s power is at its peak, while the judiciary’s power is at its lowest,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in the emergency motion to the Supreme Court.
By default, the request went to Roberts, who handles emergency appeals from the nation’s capital. His pause lasts until the court decides whether to overturn Ali’s decision, which Roberts can do himself or refer to the full court for a vote.
Roberts ordered the plaintiffs to respond to the court filings by midday Friday.
However, Roberts’ decision means that the administration is not required to release the funds by midnight, giving Trump a temporary victory in his larger effort to dismantle USAID.
However, it keeps the USAID contractors and nonprofits who sued in limbo.
The coalition stated in court filings that, unless the administration pays up, several plaintiffs and their members may be forced to cease operations this week, arguing that “time truly is of the essence.”
“After flouting the district court’s temporary restraining order for a full twelve days in letter and in spirit — requiring the district court to not once, not twice, but three times order compliance — Defendants bring this premature appeal in a last-ditch effort to evade the order of an Article III court,” according to Stephen Wirth, their attorney.
“The lengths to which the government will go to defy a court order, all in order to end life-saving humanitarian assistance, is staggering,” Allison Zieve, director of Public Citizen Litigation Group, which represents one group of plaintiffs, said in a statement.
The Justice Department pushed back, insisting that the groups have other legal options for obtaining the funds they believe they are owed.
Since taking office, Trump has sought to effectively dismantle USAID, including through an executive order demanding a halt to all federal aid payments. Most USAID employees have been placed on administrative leave and barred from accessing their offices or internal systems, while many others have been terminated.
The initiative comes as Trump seeks to align federal spending with his administration’s priorities.
Prior to setting the midnight deadline, Ali, a former President Biden appointee, ruled that the Trump administration had violated his order but declined to hold officials in civil contempt.
In a separate case, a federal judge in Rhode Island determined that the Trump administration violated a court order by failing to fully unfreeze US federal aid, despite his order to block the sweeping pause.
