Once again, U.S. politics continues to stretch credulity, with another astonishing week for international aid. Earlier this week, we saw almost 10,000 awards canceled at essentially no notice, just hours before a court-imposed deadline that would have forced USAID to turn the taps back on, as well as pay back the billions it owes for work already done.
Aid groups told the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that the Trump administration had defied a court order to resume foreign aid, forcing layoffs and life-threatening disruptions. They warned the government had created “an emergency of its own making.” In a battle of wills, instead of paying the nearly $2 billion it had been ordered to do midweek, the administration sought, and eventually received a reprieve.
The legal maneuvering is far from over, but for many organizations, regardless of the ultimate verdict, the damage has been done. “We now face the starkest of stark choices about which services can be protected,” said International Rescue Committee President David Miliband.