
President Donald Trump signs an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s or girls’ sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Trump administration wants the U.S. Supreme Court to scrub away a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by a federal judge late last month that requires it to cough up nearly $2 billion in federal funds — related to contracts and grants formed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and State Department — in what Justice Department lawyers are blasting as a “pay-or-else order.”
Organizations that had entered into contracts or received grants from the State Department and USAID are suing the Trump administration over an executive order that required a blanket freeze of all foreign aid funding, arguing that it was an unconstitutional exercise of presidential power “in contravention of congressional will” as well as an “arbitrary and capricious agency action” that will lead to starvation and the deaths of many. An emergency hearing was held last Tuesday, which led to the Supreme Court intervening by Wednesday evening after Trump requested an emergency stay.
In a Supreme Court brief, Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris on Monday said U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali’s ruling from last week — which required the government to fork over $2 billion by Feb. 26 — was carried out at an “emergency hearing” where no additional evidence or briefings were presented. She claimed that this led to the Trump administration doling out “fraudulent” and “improper” payments without any proof that they were needed, with there even being alleged requests for funds related to “already-completed work,” according to Harris.