Trump administration seeks SCOTUS relief from $2 billion 'pay-or-else' USAID foreign aid order

The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to cancel a lower court order for the government to immediately pay out nearly $2 billion in foreign assistance grant money.

Solicitor General Sarah Harris said the federal judge’s “36-hour pay-or-else order” was rushed and could cause the government to pay bogus claims.

“The government cannot just press a button and disburse funds in response to any request that fits the district court’s description. Instead, the government must undertake a multi-step process that complies with federal statutes before payments are authorized for disbursement,” Ms. Harris wrote in a court filing.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali last week had ordered the government to make the payments before the end of Feb. 26.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has delayed that ruling taking effect.

Global health and AIDS groups say they are in “financial turmoil” over the administration’s pause on foreign assistance spending and some of them need the money to keep operating. They said it is reimbursement for work already done so the spending just preserves the status quo.

The lawsuit first arose following a Jan. 20 executive order that called for a large freeze of foreign-assistance money from the U.S. Agency for International Development. President Trump said he wanted to conduct a review to ensure the money aligned with his goals.

Judge Ali, a Biden appointee, issued on Feb. 13 a temporary restraining order halting the pause. After more back-and-forth, Judge Ali ruled on Tuesday that the federal government was still recalcitrant in releasing the money and ordered it out the door by the end of Wednesday.

That money was to cover obligations that were already in place before the State Department carried out Mr. Trump’s pause.

But the Trump administration has argued the order interferes with the president’s right to scrutinize the payments before sending out the funds.