US top court temporarily blocks district judge order for Donald Trump on foreign aid funding
The federal government froze foreign assistance after Donald Trump issued an executive order targeting what he called wasteful programmes
The US Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily blocked a district judge's order setting the Donald Trump administration a midnight deadline to release billions of dollars in foreign aid.
According to an AP report, Chief Justice John Roberts said that the order issued by US district judge Amir H Ali would be on hold until the high court has a chance to “weigh in more fully”.
What the US district judge said
District Judge Amir H Ali ordered the Trump administration to comply with his decision temporarily blocking a freeze on foreign aid, ruling in a lawsuit filed by nonprofit groups and businesses. An appellate panel refused the administration’s request to intervene.
The federal government froze foreign assistance after Donald Trump issued an executive order targeting what he called wasteful programmes that “do not correspond to his foreign policy goals.”
Trump administration says cutting 90% USAID's foreign aid contracts
On Thursday, the Donald Trump administration said it is cutting more than 90 per cent of the USAID's foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall US assistance around the world, AP reported.
The cuts detailed by the administration would leave few surviving USAID projects for advocates to try to save in what are ongoing court battles with the administration.
The Trump administration outlined its plans in both an internal memo obtained by AP and filings in one of those federal lawsuits Wednesday.
ALSO READ: Trump fires 1,600 USAID employees, others sent on indefinite paid leave
Trump and ally Elon Musk have hit foreign aid harder and faster than almost any other target in their push to cut the size of the federal government. Both men say USAID projects advance a liberal agenda and are a waste of money.
Trump on January 20 ordered what he said would be a 90-day programme-by-programme review of which foreign assistance programs deserved to continue, and cut off all foreign assistance funds almost overnight.
The funding freeze has stopped thousands of U.S.-funded programs abroad, and the administration and Musk's Department of Government Efficiency teams have pulled the majority of USAID staff off the job through forced leave and firings.
(With AP inputs)
