Trump Loses One Bid to Pause Funding Order, Wins Another (2)

The Trump administration lost its bid for a DC Circuit override of a lower court action directing it to release frozen foreign aid funds, but notched a win at the US Supreme Court that stayed the district court’s move.

“Appellants have not met their burden of showing that the enforcement orders are appealable,” the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit said. Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay late Wednesday pausing the judge’s order.

The administration had told the DC Circuit that it couldn’t issue the payments required by US District Judge Amir Ali‘s order—"nearly $2 billion in taxpayer dollars"—within the allowed time frame.

The payments for contracts, grants, and assistance agreements, have been on hold since the administration and its Department of Government Efficiency undertook efforts to wind down much of the work undertaken by the US Agency for International Development.

Businesses and nonprofits who sued saying they were reliant on that aid called on the appellate court to reject what they called the government’s “latest stalling tactic.”

Judges Cornelia T.L. Pillard, Florence Y. Pan, and Bradley N. Garcia were on the DC Circuit panel.

Ali, of the US District Court for the District of Columbia initially directed the administration to unfreeze the foreign aid funding two weeks ago.

The American Bar Association and other businesses and nonprofits subsequently went back to the court to complain that the administration hadn’t unfrozen those funds despite Ali’s order requiring it to.

After those groups filed an emergency order saying without that relief, they would have to shut down or lay off staff this week, Ali ruled Tuesday that the US had to pay out that money before Wednesday’s end.

The administration asked Ali to put that order on hold pending the government’s appeal. Ali denied that request Wednesday morning.

The order represents “an extraordinary usurpation of the President’s authority,” the administration’s brief said, arguing that the order hindered the administration’s efforts to root out fraud, and it was committed to paying legitimate payments.

Ali, in his Wednesday ruling denying the stay request, said “The purpose of temporary emergency relief was to restore the status quo as it existed before Defendants’ blanket suspension of congressionally appropriated funds, given Plaintiffs’ strong showing of irreparable harm and that Defendants’ blanket suspension of funds was likely arbitrary and capricious.”

“A stay pending appeal would run directly contrary to that purpose,” Ali said, rending his order “a nullity.”

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, represents the plaintiff coalition that includes the ABA. Public Citizen represents two other groups, AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and Journalism Development Network.

The cases are Glob. Health Council v. Trump, D.C. Cir., No. 25-05047, motion 2/26/25 and AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coal. v. Dep’t of State, D.C. Cir., No. 25-05046, motion 2/26/25.