The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump to withhold about $4 billion in foreign aid, according to Reuters, intensifying the debate over the balance of power between the executive branch and Congress.
The funds, intended for foreign assistance, United Nations peacekeeping operations, and democracy-promotion initiatives, were meant to be spent before the fiscal year ends September 30. Instead, the Trump administration has sought to block the money, arguing it is “contrary to U.S. foreign policy.”
At the center of the dispute is whether a president can refuse to spend money that Congress has appropriated. A lower court had ordered the administration to release the funds, but the Supreme Court granted the Justice Department’s request to block that order. In its unsigned decision, the court said the aid groups “may lack the legal authority to bring their challenge” and expressed concerns that “ruling against Trump at this stage in the case threatened to impair his power to conduct foreign affairs.”
The ruling drew sharp dissent from the court’s liberal justices. Justice Elena Kagan wrote: “If those laws require obligation of the money, and if Congress has not by rescission or other action relieved the Executive of that duty, then the Executive must comply,” joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Kagan described the decision as an affront to the constitutional principle that power is separated between the three branches of government.
This marks another victory for Trump in the Supreme Court. Earlier this year, the court blocked the administration from withholding about $2 billion to aid organizations for work they had already performed. The case highlights the ongoing tension over the president’s authority to control foreign aid spending and the limits set by Congress.
The Trump administration has also moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, the primary U.S. foreign aid agency, signaling a broader effort to reshape American foreign assistance under the “America First” agenda.
