Supreme Court says Trump administration must pay out $2 billion in frozen foreign aid

CNA Staff, Mar 5, 2025 / 12:10 pm

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to pay out billions in frozen foreign aid, siding with a lower court that had directed the White House to disburse the money to nonprofit organizations. 

In its divided 5-4 ruling, the court upheld U.S. District Judge Amir Ali’s order regarding the funds, which have been frozen as part of a series of executive orders President Donald Trump issued in January. 

The executive orders cover tens of millions of dollars promised to Catholic groups, including Catholic Relief Services, as well as the foreign assistance organizations Jesuit Refugee Service and Caritas.

Ali on Feb. 25 ordered the administration to make payments of around $2 billion to some federal grantees by 11:59 p.m. the following day. The order concerned payments from the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for contracted work that has already been completed. 

The Department of Justice had appealed Ali’s order to the Supreme Court, which subsequently issued a stay on the order pending review by the justices. The court’s Wednesday order ended that stay and allowed Ali’s order to be enforced. 

It is unclear when precisely the funds will be fully paid out. In its ruling, the Supreme Court said the lower court “should clarify what obligations the government must fulfill to ensure compliance” with the payout order. 

In a sharp dissent, Justice Samuel Alito said he was “stunned” by the court’s order. 

“Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars?” Alito wrote. “The answer to that question should be an emphatic ‘No,’ but a majority of this court apparently thinks otherwise.”

Alito was joined in the dissent by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh.

Ali had ruled that Trump’s blanket freeze on foreign aid funding likely violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act as well as the separation of powers because Congress approved the money to be used in foreign aid programs.

The funding freeze has touched off a series of lawsuits from nonprofits and aid groups that say the White House engaged in an overreach of its executive power in ending large amounts of federal payouts. 

The groups further said the lack of funding would wreak havoc on vulnerable populations, including refugees and those in undeveloped countries. 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sued the Trump administration last month over what the bishops said was an unlawful suspension of funding for refugee resettlement and aid programs. 

A federal judge last month denied the bishops’ request to block that freeze.

More recently, Catholic Charities Fort Worth sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over the freezing of $36 million in grants for refugee services in the state.