The administration said it could not feasibly resume payments on the rapid timeline set by US District Judge Amir Ali, who on Tuesday directed the State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) to resume funding for foreign aid contracts and grants by the end of Wednesday, The Hill reported. “This new order requiring payment of enormous sums of foreign-assistance money in less than 36 hours intrudes on the prerogatives of the Executive Branch. The President’s power is at its apex—and the power of the judiciary is at its nadir—in matters of foreign affairs,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in the emergency motion to the high court.
By default, the request went to Roberts, who handles emergency appeals arising from the nation’s capital. His pause lasts until the court decides whether to wipe Ali’s ruling, which Roberts could decide himself or refer to full court for a vote. Roberts ordered the plaintiffs to respond in court filings by mid-day Friday.
But for now, Roberts’s decision means the administration does not have to release the funding by midnight, handing Trump a temporary win in his broader effort to dismantle USAID. However, it leaves the USAID contractors and nonprofits who sued in limbo. The coalition wrote in court filings that, unless the administration pays up, several plaintiffs and their members could be forced to cease operations this week, contending that “time truly is of the essence.
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