Thursday, March 6, 2025 - The Supreme Court on Wednesday, March 5, backed a federal judge's power to order the Trump administration to pay $2 billion to U.S. Agency for International Development contractors but did not require immediate payment.
In doing so, the court on a 5-4 vote rejected an emergency application
filed by the Justice Department after U.S. District Judge Amir Ali issued a
series of rulings demanding the government unfreeze funds that President Donald
Trump put on hold with an executive order.
The court delayed acting on the case for a week. In the meantime, the
contractors have not been paid.
In an unsigned order, the court said that Ali's deadline for the
immediate payment had now passed and the case is already proceeding in the
district court, with more rulings to come. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday,
March 5.
As such, Ali "should clarify what obligations the government must
fulfill" in order to comply with a temporary retraining order issued Feb.
13, the court said. Ali should consider "the feasibility of any compliance
deadlines," the court added.
Four conservative justices dissented from the denial of the application,
with Justice Samuel Alito writing that Ali did not have "unchecked power
to compel the government to pay out ... 2 billion taxpayer dollars."
The other dissenters were Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and
Brett Kavanaugh.
The government had said it was unable to comply with Ali’s order earlier this
week that the $2 billion in payments be made by last Wednesday night.
Specific projects affected by the payment freeze include the
installation of new irrigation and water pumping stations in Ukraine;
waterworks upgrades in Lagos, Nigeria; the supply of medical equipment in
Vietnam and Nepal; and measures to combat malaria in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and
Ethiopia.
In the meantime, the administration has worked frantically to review all
of USAID's existing spending. It recently concluded that assessment, confirming
a decision to cut thousands of programs — the bulk of the agency’s activity
— worth up to $60 billion.
Those actions are also set to be challenged, but were not at issue at
the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay last week,
putting the lower court judge's ruling on hold while the Supreme Court decided
the next steps.
The underlying lawsuit was brought by nonprofits and businesses that receive
USAID funding to provide foreign aid services. Unions representing USAID
workers filed their own lawsuit.
Upon taking office, Trump and his ally Elon Musk have taken aggressive
actions to downsize the federal government, with USAID one of the major
targets. Last Thursday, USAID staff who lost their jobs were clearing out
their desks at the Washington, D.C., office while supporters gathered
outside.
But in acting so abruptly, the government left contractors out of pocket
for work already completed, the contractors alleged. Among other things, they
said in their lawsuit that the government had failed to follow the correct
course under a law called the Administrative Procedure Act.
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