A Trump administration push to rebuke a federal judge who imposed a quick deadline to release billions of dollars in foreign aid was rejected Wednesday by a divided Supreme Court.
By a 5-4 vote, the court told U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to clarify his earlier order requiring the Republican administration to release nearly $2 billion in aid for work that had already been done.
AP reports this is the second time the new Trump administration has been frustrated in the country’s highest court:
Although the outcome is a short-term loss for President Donald Trump’s administration, the nonprofit groups and businesses that sued are still waiting for the money they say they are owed. One of the organizations last week was forced to lay off 110 employees as a result, according to court papers.
It’s the second time the new administration has sought and failed to persuade the Supreme Court to immediately rein in a lower-court judge in legal fights over actions taken by Trump.
The AP report further states Justice Samuel Alito led four conservative justices in dissent, saying Ali lacks the authority to order the payments. Alito wrote that he is stunned the court is rewarding “an act of judicial hubris and imposes a $2 billion penalty on American taxpayers.”
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, two conservatives, joined the three liberal justices to form a majority.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined Alito’s dissent.
The lawsuit was brought by a group of nonprofits and businesses that receive USAID funding to provide services., Reuters reported.
More to come…
