By a 5-4 vote, the court upheld U.S. District of Columbia District Judge Amir Ali’s ruling, though it asked him to clarify his earlier order, given that the deadline for the administration to comply had passed.
The Trump administration had tried to stop the payments.
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It appealed the district court’s order for a preliminary injunction, and won a temporary stay, but the Court ultimately decided to strike down the stay.
Legal scholar Jonathan Turley pointed out that the case could still emerge in the Trump administration’s favor, since the Supreme Court’s ruling only applied to the preliminary injunction, and not the final determination:
The key here is that this was a controversial move to review a TRO, which is generally not reviewable. What is clear is that there are four justices who were still prepared to do so and would obviously be likely to grant review in the next round.
That next round would come after the hearing on the preliminary injunction, which is scheduled for March 6th.
It can then be appealed to these awaiting justices. Only four are needed to grant review, so you do the math.
AP reports this is the second time the new Trump administration has been frustrated in the country’s highest court:
Although the outcome is a short-term loss for President Donald Trump’s administration, the nonprofit groups and businesses that sued are still waiting for the money they say they are owed. One of the organizations last week was forced to lay off 110 employees as a result, according to court papers.
It’s the second time the new administration has sought and failed to persuade the Supreme Court to immediately rein in a lower-court judge in legal fights over actions taken by Trump.
Justice Samuel Alito led four conservative justices in dissent. In a blistering opinion, he said that district courts lacks the authority to order the payments, noting that once money is out the door, further appeals may be ineffective
In a blistering opinion, Alito wrote that the Supreme Court is rewarding “an act of judicial hubris and imposes a $2 billion penalty on American taxpayers.”
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the three liberal justices to form a majority.
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Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined Alito’s dissent.
The lawsuit was brought by a group of nonprofits and businesses that receive USAID funding to provide services, Reuters reported.
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
This post has been updated to include Jonathan Turley’s comments.
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