US court orders Trump administration to release blocked foreign aid
Photo: US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
In the United States, an appellate court has upheld a lower court’s ruling regarding the termination of foreign aid by President Donald Trump’s administration. The funds had been approved by Congress, and the White House did not have the authority to cancel the aid, Reuters reports.
In the District of Columbia, the appellate court upheld the ruling previously issued by a lower court. The decision stated that the White House had no right to block funds that had been allocated by the US Congress.
According to the ruling, the Trump administration must resume funding for projects to which Congress had allocated $11 billion. The administration is also required to do so before the end of the authorized spending period in September.
Only one judge expressed disagreement, stating that he would have overturned the lower court's ruling. This judge was appointed during Trump's second presidential term, and therefore opposed the lower court's verdict.
At the end of August, the Trump administration filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, seeking to halt the disbursement of $12 billion in foreign aid.
At the same time, on August 13, a US federal appeals court lifted a judicial order that had required the State Department to continue foreign aid payments. That decision was considered a victory for President Donald Trump.
Shortly after his second-term inauguration on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump suspended all foreign aid funding for 90 days. Later, the aid was fully canceled. Trump has repeatedly called US foreign aid to other countries a waste of money.
