The Supreme Court handed aid groups a small win on Wednesday. In a 5-4 decision the Court affirmed a lower court ruling ordering the Trump administration to release nearly $2 billion in foreign aid reimbursements to the Aids Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and other groups.
The administration had largely ignored a federal judge’s temporary restraining order on the president’s broad-based freeze of appropriated federal funds, upending countless federally funded projects and lives. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney-Barrett joined the three liberal judges in an unsigned opinion handing the Trump administration the narrow rebuke.
The ruling kicks the case back to US District Court Judge Amir Ali to set a new deadline for the payments, which are for work completed by the groups prior to February 13th. The case before Ali continues with a hearing today regarding a motion for a preliminary injunction, which, if granted, could lead to the release of frozen foreign assistance funds moving forward – a decision that would almost certainly send the case right back up to the Supreme Court.
It’s unclear what effect Wednesday’s ruling will have on other organizations, and funding, affected by the freeze.
