❓WHAT HAPPENED: U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday granted the federal government a stay, halting District Court Judge Amir Ali’s orders in two cases that would have forced President Donald J. Trump to disburse foreign aid monies slated to be cut through the rescission process.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Chief Justice John Roberts, U.S. District Court Judge Amir Ali, and President Donald J. Trump.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The stay was issued on Tuesday, September 9, 2025.
💬KEY QUOTE: Chief Justice Roberts wrote, regarding Judge Ali’s order, that it “…is hereby partially stayed for funds that are subject to the President’s August 28, 2025 recission proposal currently pending before Congress pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court.”
🎯IMPACT: The stay effectively halts Judge Ali’s order, which would have forced the Trump White House to disburse $11.5 billion in foreign funds before they expire at the end of September.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday granted the federal government a stay, halting District Court Judge Amir Ali’s orders in two cases that would have forced President Donald J. Trump to disburse foreign aid monies slated to be cut through the rescission process. Judge Ali, a foreign-born Canadian-American jurist with radical political associations, has attempted to aggressively intervene against the Trump administration’s efforts to cut payments to international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foreign governments, and the now-defunct United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The latest—and now stayed—order from Judge Ali would have forced the Trump White House to disburse $11.5 billion in foreign funds before they expire at the end of September. Notably, the Trump administration has maintained that the President is legally allowed to hold the funds until their expiration, whether Congress acts on the proposed cuts or not, in a process called a pocket rescission.
“IT IS ORDERED that the September 3, 2025 order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, case Nos. 1:25-cv-400 and 1:25-cv-402, is hereby partially stayed for funds that are subject to the President’s August 28, 2025 recission proposal currently pending before Congress pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court,” the Chief Justice’s order states, adding: “It is further ordered that a response to the application be filed on or before Friday, September 12th, 2025, by 4 p.m. (EDT).”
Last week, Judge Ali ruled that President Trump’s use of the pocket rescission was likely illegal. “To be clear, no one disputes that Defendants have significant discretion in how to spend the funds at issue, and the Court is not directing Defendants to make payments to any particular recipients,” the far-left judge wrote, adding: “But Defendants do not have any discretion as to whether to spend the funds.” Ali, a Biden appointee, insisted that only Congress—and not the executive branch—has the authority to rescind appropriated funds.
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