Alito’s Fiery Rebuke of Supreme Court Ruling Against Trump

 The Supreme Court recently ruled that the Trump administration was wrong to withhold foreign aid funds owed to nonprofit groups. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett broke from conservative justices in the decision. President Donald Trump has publicly expressed his plans to cut 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts and slash an additional $60 billion in foreign aid spending.

Justice Samuel Alito dissented, writing, “Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) $2 billion taxpayer dollars? The answer to that question should be an emphatic ‘No,’ but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise.”

Alito said he was “stunned” by the ruling, calling it “a most unfortunate misstep that rewards an act of judicial hubris and imposes a $2 billion penalty on American taxpayers.”

Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris argued that meeting the payment deadlines was not feasible, but plaintiffs claimed the administration dismantled systems that could have expedited payments.

Judge Amir Ali criticized the administration’s failure to meet the February 26 deadline. He ordered at least partial payment of the $1.9 billion by March 10.

Ali said, “I think it’s reasonable to get the plaintiffs’ invoices paid by 6 p.m. on Monday,” adding, “What I’ll order today is the first concrete step that plaintiffs have their invoices paid … [and] work completed prior to Feb. 13 to be paid by 6 p.m. on Monday, March 10th.”

The Justice Department argued that logistical challenges made compliance impossible, but Ali rejected this. Some of the organizations are reportedly nearing bankruptcy due to the freeze.

Trump administration official Pete Marocco said, “As far as payment, one of the reasons that there have been problems with some of the payments is because, despite the president’s executive order, despite the secretary’s guidance, we still had nefarious actors in the agencies that were trying to push out hundreds of illegal payments.”

Marocco added, “And so we were able to seize control of that, stop them, take control of some of those people, and make sure that that money was not getting out the door.”

Ali’s enforcement of the Supreme Court’s ruling is expected to lead to further legal challenges, potentially sending the case back to the high court.