Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailThe Supreme Court is allowing President Donald Trump to freeze $4 billion in foreign aid payments despite Congress already allocating that money, handing another win to the president seeking to exert more authority over spending power. All six conservative justices of the court agreed to allow Trump to freeze the billions of dollars intended to assist global aid programs that the president has deemed wasteful. In a brief explanation, justices said the potential harm to the administration outweighed the harm to the plaintiffs, a group of organizations and businesses that receive the funding for aid projects.Friday’s order is essentially an extension of a previous temporary order from Chief Justice John Roberts, which paused a lower court ruling requiring the Trump administration to spend the money by the end of September.But justices made it clear that Friday’s ruling is not the final say in the matter as litigation continues. open image in gallerySupreme Court handed President Donald Trump yet another win, allowing him to exert authority over congressionally allocated spending (Getty Images)The three liberal justices dissented, raising concerns about the ruling altering the allocation of power between the president and Congress, which is explicitly given the power to authorize government funding and spend it. Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, said she appreciated the majority not issuing a final ruling in the matter but warned that the “consequences of today’s grant are significant.”“The effect of its ruling is to allow the Executive to cease obligating $4 billion in funds that Congress appropriated for foreign aid, and that will now never reach its intended recipients,” Kagan wrote. “Because that result conflicts with the separation of powers, I respectfully dissent.”This is a breaking news story, more follows…
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Supreme Court says Trump is allowed to freeze $4 billion in funding, overriding Congress’s spending power
