WASHINGTON (AP) – Supreme Justice John Roberts temporarily maintained the Trump administration’s decision to freeze nearly $5 billion on Tuesday Foreign aid.
Roberts acted on the administration’s emergency appeal supreme court Cases that include billions of dollars in aid approved by Congress. President Donald Trump said last month that he would not spend money and would invoke the disputed powers that the president last used about 50 years ago.
The High Court Order is temporary, but justice suggests that it reverses the lower courts that withholding funds is likely illegal. US District Judge Amir Ali ruled last week that Congress must approve a decision to withhold funds.
The Supreme Court building will be seen in Washington on March 28, 2017.
Trump is R-La. He told House Speaker Mike Johnson in an August 28 letter that he would not spend the $4.9 billion approved by Congress. Foreign aideffectively cut your budget without passing through legislative branches.
He used something like that Pocket withdrawal. The President then submits a request to Congress towards the end of the current budget year to ensure that the money is not spent approved. Late notice means that council cannot act on request in the required 45-day window and the money will be unused.
The Trump administration has deeply reduced one of its distinctive policies to foreign aid, in connection with relatively poor savings. deficit And it could damage its reputation overseas as foreign populations lose access to food supplies and development programs. The government relied on the High Court after a committee of federal appeals judges refused to block Ali’s decision.
A Justice Department lawyer last month told a federal judge that an additional $6.5 billion in aid, which was subject to the freeze, would be spent by the end of the September 30th fiscal year.
The case has been passing through court for several months and Ali said he understood that his ruling was not the last word on the matter.
“This case raises immeasurable legal and practical issues, such as whether there is a way to test the administration’s decision not to spend the funds allocated to Congress,” he wrote.
In August, the District of Columbia Circuit abandoned an earlier injunction issued to require Ali to spend the money. However, the three judge panels did not close the case.
After Trump issued a notice of retraction, the plaintiffs returned to Ali’s court, where the judge issued an order currently being challenged.
