The Trump administration scored a major victory on Wednesday after a US appeals court ruled that they can cut billions of dollars in foreign assistance approved by Congress.
In a 2-1 decision, the appellate panel reversed a Washington federal judge who ruled that US officials were violating the Constitution's separation of powers principles by failing to authorize payments in line with what the legislative branch had allocated.
This means that President Trump's day-one order to dissolve the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and broadly withhold funding from other foreign aid programs can move forward.
After the Trump administration cut off foreign aid, two groups of grant recipients sued, claiming a violation of separation of powers. US District Judge Amir Ali (Canadian-born Biden appointee) ruled in March that the administration must make available foreign assistance that Congress appropriated for FY2024.
Ali's order also required USAID to pay bills owed through Feb. 13 under existing contracts and grants, however that part of the injunction was not on appeal - and substantially all of the owed payments are now complete according to court records.
