The aim may have been the Trump administration’s prerogative — to cut spending that it deems antithetical to its agenda. But when it comes to foreign aid spending? “It’s just plain sloppiness that's going to cost a lot more for the taxpayers,” said Robert Nichols of the law firm Nichols Liu at Devex’s most recent Pro Briefing.
That alleged sloppiness is now playing out in near-daily courtroom battles between the administration and a group of NGOs and for-profit contractors suing to get paid for work done before U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign aid freeze on Jan. 20.
The latest legal showdown took place on Wednesday night, when the administration went to the Supreme Court to stop a judge’s ruling ordering it to disburse nearly $2 billion in suspended payments by midnight. It won a temporary victory when Chief Justice John Roberts paused the order. The plaintiffs now have until noon Friday to make their next move.