Chief Justice pauses Judge’s deadline to restore US foreign aid funds in order to avoid an immediate showdown
U.S. Supreme Court
Averting immediate showdown, chief justice pauses judge’s deadline for US to restore foreign-aid funds
February 27, 2025, 10:36 am CST
The U.S. government doesn’t have to comply with a federal judge’s Wednesday night deadline to restore foreign-aid funds after Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay in the matter. (Photo from Shutterstock)
The U.S. government doesn’t have to comply with a federal judge’s Wednesday night deadline to restore foreign-aid funds after Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay in the matter.
Roberts issued the temporary stay late Wednesday in two consolidated lawsuits challenging a 90-day freeze in funding for foreign assistance programs. A plaintiff in one of the suits is the ABA, which had “tens of millions of dollars” in federal funding frozen for foreign rule of law and human rights programs, its suit said.
The Washington Post, Reuters, NBC News, Law.com, SCOTUSblog and the New York Times are among the publications with coverage.
Plaintiffs in the suit consolidated with the ABA’s alleged Feb. 19 that government defendants showed “brazen defiance” of a Feb. 13 temporary restraining order requiring restoration of funding.
U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali of District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order on February 13. Ali set a deadline of 11:59 pm on February 26 to comply with his order. The U.S. government immediately appealed.
Amir’s order appears to contemplate the immediate outlay of nearly $2 billion, according to the stay request filed with the Supreme Court by Acting U.S. The Solicitor-General Sarah Harris.
The United States government is committed in paying legitimate claims for the work and is “undertaking substantial efforts” to that end.
Harris wrote that “what the government cannot do” is pay arbitrarily decided demands on a timeline set by the district court or according to extracontractual rules devised by the court.
This mandate creates an untenable payment plan at odds with the president’s obligations under Article II to protect the integrity of the federal fi This mandate creates a payment plan that is incompatible with the president’s Article II obligations to protect the integrity of federal fisc, and to make appropriate judgments regarding foreign aid.
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