By Kaelan Deese | Washington Examiner
The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a lower court order that told the Trump administration to release nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments by midnight on Wednesday in the dispute over its hold on U.S. Agency for International Development funds.
The Justice Department in an emergency filing contended that the administration needs more time to review outstanding payments for fraud and abuse and warned that complying with the rushed timeline could lead to irreversible financial harm. Without issuing comment about the merits of the case, the Supreme Court told parties to file additional responses to their chambers by Friday, according to a brief order by Chief Justice John Roberts.
“The order does not limit its abrupt deadline to respondents’ own invoices or letters of credit, instead apparently compelling the government to pay requests from any organization that has asked for such funds,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote.