The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld President Donald Trump’s administration’s request to stop a lower court judge’s order mandating the administration pay almost$ 2 billion to contractors working for the United States Agency for International Development ( USAID ).
The Supreme Court cited a 5-4 decision on Wednesday, in which it was noted that the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order on February 13 that forbade the Trump presidency from “enforcing guidelines preventing payouts of international development assistance money.”
According to the Supreme Court, the district judge later ruled that the Trump administration had until February 25 to pay for USAID companies ‘ work before the momentary restraining order. The Trump presidency filed an appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s decision, even though the district court’s order required the Trump administration to make the payment by 11:59 p.m. on February 26.
Prior to the February 26 date, Chief Justice John Roberts briefly halted the lower court’s decision, but on Wednesday, the Supreme Court ultimately decided in favor of the Trump administration.
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The Supreme Court stated in the decision on Wednesday that” The application is denied. Given that the challenged get has already been issued, and given the ongoing preliminary injunction deliberations, the District Court should set out what responsibilities the government may serve to confirm compliance with the temporary restraining order, taking into account the possibility of any timelines for compliance. The CHIEF JUSTICE has vacated the purchase that was previously entered.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch expressed dissention on Wednesday, writing,” Does a second district court judge who probably lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the United States to pay out ( and perhaps lose always ) 2 billion tax dollars? A majority of this Court appears to believe otherwise, but the answer to that question should be an unwavering” No.”
Alito continued, saying that the Supreme Court’s decision had” stunned” him.
Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris stated in a court filing on Monday that while USAID contractors are” committed to paying legitimate claims for work that was properly completed,” the deadline for which U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to issue the payments was” not logistically or technically feasible.”
