President Donald Trump’s administration has filed an emergency appeal at the Supreme Court seeking to halt a midnight deadline to restart $2 billion in foreign aid payments. This move bypasses an appeals court that was reviewing the request. The legal action stems from a lawsuit filed by a group of nonprofits and contractors against the Trump administration's freezing of funds from the US Agency for International Development and the State Department.
US District Judge Amir Ali had issued a temporary restraining order earlier this month, directing the State Department and USAID to restore funding for contracts that predated the current administration but were frozen by it. The nonprofits and contractors involved in the case expressed concerns about the government's slow response in fulfilling its obligations, leading Judge Ali to order the payments to resume by midnight on Wednesday.
The administration argued before the Supreme Court that the district court's mandate created an impractical payment schedule that conflicted with the president's responsibilities to safeguard the federal budget and make informed decisions regarding foreign aid. The Trump administration stated that it would take 'multiple weeks' to disburse the nearly $2 billion owed to the affected contractors and organizations due to the foreign aid freeze implemented in late January.
