DOJ asks Supreme Court to allow Trump admin to strip foreign aid funding

The Justice Department filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, asking the justices to halt a federal district judge’s order that requires the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in congressionally appropriated foreign aid before the fiscal year ends on September 30. In the appeal, Solicitor General John Sauer argued that aid contractors lack the legal standing to force the spending, saying disputes over budget impoundments fall under Congress’ authority, not private groups.

“Congress did not upset the delicate interbranch balance by allowing for unlimited, unconstrained private suits,” Sauer wrote. “Any lingering dispute about the proper disposition of funds that the President seeks to rescind shortly before they expire should be left to the political branches, not effectively prejudged by the district court.”

Sauer also defended the president’s authority to issue “pocket rescissions,” where the White House requests Congress to cancel funds late in the fiscal year in the hope they will expire before lawmakers can act, per Politico.

Earlier this month, a three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that only Congress’ comptroller general has the authority to challenge alleged unlawful impoundments, limiting the ability of aid groups to sue. Groups that rely on foreign aid funding, however, are pushing the full DC Circuit Court to reverse that decision. Until then, an order by Judge Amir Ali in favor of the aid groups is in effect, unless the Supreme Court intervenes. 

Sauer asked the justices to rule by September 2 or at least put in place a temporary order blocking Ali’s directive.

Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, one of the groups challenging the holdbacks, criticized the administration’s move.

“Time and again, this administration has shown their disdain for foreign assistance and a disregard for people’s lives in the United States and around the world. But even more broadly and dangerously, this administration’s actions further erodes Congress’s role and responsibility as an equal branch of government,” Warren said in a statement, according to Politico. “The question being put to SCOTUS is whether they will be complicit in further eroding the constitutional commitment to checks and balance.”