The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Trump administration does not have to obligate $10.5 billion in foreign aid funding set to expire on Sept. 30, overturning a lower court order.
The majority of the justices struck down the Washington D.C. District Court’s preliminary injunction that compelled the administration to obligate the funds, including about $4 billion that it had asked Congress to rescind. The high-stakes case goes beyond just foreign aid money, challenging how much power the executive branch has over government spending, which is typically the purview of Congress.
The closely watched legal challenge was filed in February by a group of foreign aid implementing partners — both large for-profit companies and nonprofit aid organizations.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
