Supreme Court Hands Trump Major Victory In Foreign Aid Fight
Supreme Court Hands Trump Major Victory In Foreign Aid Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court will allow the federal government to freeze more than $4 billion in foreign aid payments that President Trump tried to cancel last month using a rare “pocket rescission.”
The justices voted 6-3 to grant the Trump administration’s emergency appeal, which stopped a lower court’s order to release the funds that had already been set aside.
A spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget said, “This is a huge win for restoring the President’s power to carry out his policies. Left-wing groups can no longer take over the president’s agenda.”
Most of the justices agreed that “the harms to the Executive’s conduct of foreign affairs appear to outweigh the potential harm faced by respondents.” The Post said that the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, Journalism Development Network, Center for Victims of Torture, and Global Health Council are some of them.
The Supreme Court’s decision didn’t answer the bigger question of whether President Trump has the power to “impound” money that Congress has approved on his own.
Trump recently told House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) that he was going to cancel more than $4 billion in foreign aid. This included $3.2 billion in programs run by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), $322 million from the joint USAID–State Department Democracy Fund, and $521 million in State Department contributions to international organizations.
The request, called a “pocket rescission,” was sent to Congress so close to the end of the fiscal year on September 30 that it would automatically go into effect, no matter what Congress did.
It is the first time in almost fifty years that a president has done this.
The funding in question had been designated for nonprofit organizations currently suing the Trump administration, as well as for foreign governments.
A U.S. District Judge named Amit Mehta Ali, who was appointed by Biden, said earlier this month that the administration could not keep the money without Congress’s approval of the proposal to cancel it.
Ali wrote, “So far, Congress has not responded to the President’s proposal to rescind the funds.” “And the [Impoundment Control Act] makes it clear that it is congressional action, not the President sending a special message, that ends the previous appropriations.”
The nonprofit groups that are fighting the Trump administration’s funding freeze said that the pocket rescission broke federal law and put important, life-saving programs abroad at risk.
Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson disagreed with the majority ruling on Friday.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case on Monday that will decide whether President Donald Trump can fire members of the Federal Trade Commission without cause. This case could change the definition of presidential power and the independence of federal agencies.
The justices said in a short order that Trump could fire FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter while the case is still going on. The stay that lets her go will stay in place until the court makes a decision, which is set for December.
The case asks if laws that protect FTC commissioners from being fired violate the separation of powers and if the court’s 1935 decision to uphold those protections should be changed. It will also look into whether lower federal courts can stop removals, like they did when Trump fired Democratic appointees.
Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, who are on the left side of the high court, disagreed. Kagan wrote that the order effectively gives the president “full control” over independent agencies that Congress wanted to keep out of politics.
“He can now fire any member he wants, for any reason or no reason at all,” says the majority, even though Congress said otherwise. She wrote, “And he may do this to end the agencies’ independence and bipartisanship.”
part 1
The black duffel bag hit the porch with a heavy thud.
Its zipper burst open.
Everything inside spilled across the wooden boards.
At first, nobody moved.
Then Sheriff Daniels stepped forward.
A black handgun slid across the porch until it stopped against the front step.
His hand instantly went to his holster.
"Nobody move!"
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
The cameraman zoomed in.
Beside the handgun lay dozens of unopened envelopes.
Every one of them carried military postage.
Every one of them was addressed to:
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Parker
The return address read:
Sergeant Emily Parker
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
The dates stretched across four years.
Some envelopes were faded from heat.
Others were still sealed with military tape.
Mrs. Ellis whispered, "Those are her letters..."
Pastor Ray slowly picked one up from the porch.
"It hasn't even been opened."
Another envelope.
Still sealed.
Then another.
Twenty.
Thirty.
More than anyone could count.
Mr. Greer's face turned pale.
"I delivered every one of those."
Nobody answered.
Inside the house came the sound of something crashing.
Emily couldn't breathe.
"I wrote every month."
Her voice barely carried.
"I never missed a birthday... never missed Christmas... never missed Mom's anniversary after her surgery."
She looked toward the windows.
"You never read them?"
Silence.
Sheriff Daniels carefully picked up the pistol using a handkerchief.
"This weapon isn't loaded."
Deputy Harris stepped beside him.
"Serial number's still intact."
Daniels stared.
His expression changed.
"I know this gun."
The deputy frowned.
"What?"
"It was reported stolen."
"When?"
"Almost six years ago."
He looked toward the Parker house.
"By Richard Parker."
The entire crowd turned toward the front door.
Inside, someone shouted.
"No!"
Then another crash.
Mr. Greer suddenly remembered something.
"I have something."
He hurried back to his mail truck.
People watched him disappear into the driver's seat.
A moment later he returned carrying a thick leather folder.
"I wasn't sure I'd ever need this."
He handed it to the sheriff.
Daniels opened it.
Inside were photocopies.
Certified mail receipts.
Postal forwarding forms.
Rejected delivery notices.
Every document carried Richard Parker's signature.
The sheriff flipped page after page.
"Refused."
"Refused."
"Refused."
"Forward to sender."
Again.
Again.
Again.
Mr. Greer's voice trembled.
"Four years ago your parents came to the post office."
"They told us you were dangerous."
"They said if any military mail arrived, they didn't want it."
Emily stared at him.
"They said that?"
He nodded sadly.
"They claimed you'd threatened the family before you went away."
Mrs. Ellis burst into tears.
"Oh my God..."
Pastor Ray slowly removed his glasses.
"I told the congregation to pray for Richard and Linda."
"I thought they were grieving."
Across the street, whispers spread through the neighbors.
"I remember..."
"They said she assaulted someone."
"I heard she'd robbed a store."
"No... they told me she'd attacked her own father."
Every rumor.
Every lie.
Every cruel glance Emily had imagined while overseas...
Suddenly made sense.
She felt her knees weaken.
Mr. Greer caught her before she fell.
"You don't owe these people an apology."
Emily wiped away tears.
"I kept wondering why nobody answered."
She laughed bitterly.
"I thought everyone had forgotten me."
The sheriff continued examining the folder.
Then he stopped.
One document had a different heading.
Application for Declaration of Death in Absentia.
Daniels frowned.
"What is this?"
He read farther.
The filing claimed Emily Parker had been "missing with probable criminal activity."
Attached was a request to transfer ownership of her college trust, vehicle title, and military survivor benefits.
The application carried two signatures.
Richard Parker.
Linda Parker.
The crowd gasped.
"They tried to declare her legally dead?" someone whispered.
"No..."
"They couldn't..."
Emily's head snapped toward the house.
"My college trust?"
Her father had promised that account would always belong to her.
She had worked two jobs through high school because they insisted every dollar mattered.
Now...
Her stomach twisted.
They had tried to erase her completely.
Inside the house, another loud bang echoed.
Deputy Harris looked toward the sheriff.
"They're moving."
Daniels nodded once.
"Cover the back."
Two deputies sprinted around the sides of the property.
The cameraman followed until another officer pushed him back.
Suddenly the upstairs curtains flew open.
Richard Parker appeared for only a second.
His face was drenched with sweat.
He looked directly at Emily.
Not with guilt.
With hatred.
"You should've stayed gone!" he screamed.
Then he disappeared.
Mrs. Parker's terrified voice echoed from somewhere inside.
"Richard, stop!"
Another crash.
Glass shattered.
Deputy Collins shouted from the backyard.
"Sheriff!"
"They're trying to get out!"
The crowd surged toward the sidewalk before officers forced everyone back.
Sheriff Daniels drew a slow breath.
"This isn't about an escaped convict anymore."
He looked at the house.
"This is now a criminal investigation."
Emily stood frozen.
Four years she'd dreamed about coming home.
Four years imagining hugs.
Laughter.
A family dinner.
Instead...
Her own parents had spent those same four years convincing an entire town that she was a criminal.
And judging by the fear inside that house...
The lies were only beginning to unravel.
