The White House asked the Supreme Court to approve the administration’s pause on congressionally appropriated foreign aid, aiming to bring a conclusion to a legal saga that has stretched since the first months of President Donald Trump‘s second term.
On Aug. 13, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia voted 2-1 to overturn a lower court’s order requiring the administration to pay out the funds, which were frozen earlier this year. Trump’s Department of Justice filed a motion on Tuesday seeking final clarity in the legal battle, asking the Supreme Court to clear up the executive branch’s jurisdiction over foreign aid.
Regarding the Aug. 13 decision, the DOJ noted “the en banc court, without granting review, has refused either to stay the injunction or to issue the mandate, leaving the government subject to an injunction that the panel held to be deeply erroneous.”
“The government is thus forced to ask this Court to give effect to the D.C. Circuit’s decision, which correctly held that private parties cannot enlist Article III courts to supplant the interbranch dialogue regarding the expenditure of appropriated funds,” it added.
The filing gave a deep history of the battle over appropriated funds, going back to former President Thomas Jefferson’s decision to withhold $50,000 appropriated for gunboats on the Mississippi River during negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase.
APPEALS COURT SAYS TRUMP CAN CUT $2 BILLION IN FOREIGN AID
The DOJ is seeking a decision from the Supreme Court by Sept. 2 in order to give it enough time to develop spending plans, notify Congress, and negotiate deals with governments and NGOs poised to receive foreign aid.
NGOs attempted to sue the Trump administration over the impoundment of foreign aid funds, but the DOJ was able to successfully argue that the dispute over foreign aid must be decided between the political branches of the government.