The Supreme Court has temporarily permitted the Trump administration to withhold nearly $5 billion in foreign aid funds that President Trump sought to cancel through a rare procedural move known as a “pocket rescission.”
In a brief order issued Tuesday, Chief Justice John Roberts granted an emergency request to block a lower court ruling from September 3, which had required the release of $11.5 billion in previously approved aid. The order partially stayed a decision by District Judge Amir Ali of Washington, D.C., who had ruled that Congress must approve the president’s rescission proposal before any funds could be withheld.
The pocket rescission, submitted to Congress late in the fiscal year ending September 30, would take effect automatically without congressional approval—an approach not used by a president in nearly five decades. The withheld funds were intended for various nonprofit organizations and foreign governments.
Judge Ali, appointed by President Biden, emphasized that under the Impoundment Control Act, only Congress has the authority to rescind appropriated funds, not the president alone.
Nonprofits opposing the freeze argued that blocking the aid violates federal law and endangers critical, lifesaving programs overseas.
