WASHINGTON (AP) – Trump administration on Monday supreme court For emergency orders to maintain billions of dollars Foreign aid It’s frozen.
The heart of the legal battle is more than $5 billion in Congress-approved aid that President Donald Trump said he would not spend last month, calling the disputed powers he last used about 50 years ago.
Last week, US District Judge Amir Ali ruled that the Republican administration’s decision to withhold funds is likely illegal.
Trump told R-LA Chairman 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. That’s when the president submits a request to Congress towards the end of the current budget year to prevent him from spending approved money. Late notice means that council cannot act on request in the required 45-day window and the money will be unused.
Ali said Congress must approve the proposal to withdraw the administration to withhold money.
The law “makes it clear that it is the actions of Congress, not the transmission of the President’s special message that will cause the withdrawal of previous budgets,” he wrote.
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 fiscal year on September 30.
The case has been passing through court for several months.
Nonprofits suing the government have said that a freeze on funding has broken federal laws. Shut down your funds Even the most urgent lifesaving programs abroad.
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