Billions in foreign aid will be frozen again after Chief Justice John Roberts intervened to stop a lower-court decision to continue the funding until the case is fully adjudicated.
President Donald Trump begged the court in an emergency to stop a ruling from last week by Judge Amir Ali, who said only Congress could decide whether to withhold funding that had already been allocated to them, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.
“This case raises questions of immense legal and practical importance, including whether there is any avenue to test the executive branch’s decision not to spend congressionally appropriated funds,” Ali wrote.
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out Ali's injunction, but it didn't weigh in on the lawsuit as a whole.
The nearly $5 billion in aid goes to help stop famine, the spread of HIV-AIDS, refugees, health and education for women and girls, and efforts to combat illicit drugs, the Better World Campaign described on its website.
