The US Supreme Court rejected on Wednesday, 5, the request to freeze $ 2 billion in foreign aid, part of the government’s efforts to cut spending. It was the court’s first major decision against the White House since the president’s return to power. This occurred although Trump nominated three of the nine judges, forming a conservative majority of 6 to 3.
Yesterday, Trump’s feature was denied 5 votes to 4 – conservatives John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett joined the three progressive magistrates to maintain the decision of a lower court demanding that the government would have been completed, invalidating the decree signed on January 20, which suspended international aid for 90 days.
In the decision, the Supreme Court determines that the federal judge Amir there, that and by the State Department, clarify “what obligations the government must fulfill”.
“A single judge of a district court, which probably has no jurisdiction, has the unrestricted power of obliging the US government to pay (and probably losing forever) $ 2 billion of taxpayers?” “The answer to this question should be an emphatic ‘no’, but most of this court apparently think otherwise. I’m shocked. ”
Cortes of expenses
The government suspended foreign aid on Trump’s inauguration day. Beneficiaries and NGOs filed two lawsuits contesting the freezing of the funds, alleging unconstitutionality-budget appropriations are a power of Congress and it is up to the Executive to only comply with them.
The groups that contested the government argued that frozen funds would cause a number of crises, threatening essential medical care around the world, leaving food rotting in warehouses, ruining business, endangering disease spread and causing political instability.
Continues after advertising
“The impact of this illegal conduct in large and small companies, forced to end their programs and dismiss employees, is devastating; in hungry children around the world who will be left with nothing; in populations around the world facing deadly diseases; And in our constitutional order, ”wrote the lawyers of the Global Health Council, an organization that represents health groups, in one of the processes.
Judge Amir Ali of the Federal District Court in Washington, appointed by President Joe Biden, issued a temporary restriction order on February 13 prohibiting government officials from suspending payments allocated before Trump took office. In the decision, he said the government offered no explanation for the full suspension of the help that Congress had determined.
The White House claimed that it had the right to analyze case by case by case of donations and help contracts and interrupt or approve spending. In a decision of 25 February, the judge there ordered the government to pay $ 1.5 billion in assistance work already completed. He set a deadline until midnight the next day. In response, the Justice Department filed an emergency appeal in the Supreme Court, claiming that the judge had exceeded his authority – argument rejected yesterday.
Continues after advertising
Campaign
The president is determined to cut federal government spending on the help of the world’s richest man and the largest donor of his campaign, Elon Musk. One of its goals is to cut the help of USAID, which has health and emergency programs in about 120 countries and is responsible for over 40% of world humanitarian aid.
Decree signed on January 20, Trump temporarily suspended thousands of programs to assess whether they are “totally aligned with US President’s foreign policy.” In the past, he has said that USAID is “administered by radical lunatics,” while Musk described the agency as a “criminal organization.” (With international agencies)
The information is from the newspaper The State of S. Paulo.
