Supreme Court denies Trump admin request to cancel $2 billion in foreign aid

The Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling allowing nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments to be released, rejecting the Trump administration's request to block a lower court's decision. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Barrett sided with the three liberal justices against the administration, while four conservative justices dissented.

Justice Alito expressed concern about the powers of a single district judge over large sums of taxpayer money. The ruling keeps in place a lower court order requiring compliance with existing foreign aid agreements.

The Justice Department argued it could not meet the payments deadline but ultimately lost its emergency motion. USAID contractors warned that without funds, they may have to close operations.