The majority conservative US Supreme Court restored a court decision to take over the Trump administration on Wednesday, March 5 to resume payments due to international aid organizations, an amount estimated at between 1.5 and 2 billion dollars.
President Donald Trump had signed a decree on January 20, ordering a freeze on American foreign aid for 90 days. But a federal judge, seized by two organizations bringing together companies, NGOs, and other beneficiaries of American aid funds, suspended this decision to freeze expenses already approved by the congress. He then ordered the State Department to resume these payments before February 27.
Seized by the Trump administration, the Supreme Court had administratively suspended this summons a few hours before the deadline, the time to rule on the merits. She restores it on Wednesday. Stressing that the deadline has passed, the Court reaches the judge of first instance to set a new period “taking into account the feasibility of any deadline to comply” to its initial decision.
“Too extreme answer”
On behalf of the four conservatives opposed to the decision of the Supreme Court, judge Samuel Alito declares himself “stunned” in his written disagreement. “Today, the Court makes an extremely unhappy miss by rewarding an act of judicial hubris and by imposing a 2 billion dollar penalty on American taxpayers,” he said. “The court has clearly expressed its frustration towards the government and the complainants raise serious concerns about the payment of a work accomplished” by international organizations, “he admits. “But the ordered solution [NDLR : par le juge de première instance] is too extremely an answer, “he said, referring to the summons to pay the amounts due.
The Trump administration announced a week ago, cut massively into American international aid, in particular with the abolition of 92% of programs abroad by the US development agency, USAID, boasting of “saving almost 60 billion dollars to taxpayers”. The freeze of aid by Donald Trump aroused shock and stir in the independent agency created by an American Congress Act in 1961, and which manages an annual budget of $ 42.8 billion, alone representing 42% of humanitarian aid over the world.
The Republican candidate had promised during his campaign to reduce the weight of the federal state and to prune in expenses, and to this end his multimillionaire ally Elon Musk to oversee a commission with government efficiency (DOGE).