Thread | Brutkey

Unreal

#Trump Can Withhold Billions in #Aid, #AppealsCourt Rules

In a 2-to-1 vote, a federal appeals court panel ruled that #ForeignAid groups who sued to recover funds that #Trump froze lacked the legal right to bring the challenge.

The decision, which centered on Trump’s authority to withhold #funding already appropriated by #Congress, handed the White House a significant victory.

#impoundment #law #AbuseOfPower
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/us/politics/foreign-aid-trump-appeals-ruling.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai

Since taking office, #Trump & his advisers have consistently claimed expansive #authority to freeze federal dollars allocated for projects they have endeavored to snuff out — an action known as #impoundment that legal scholars & #aid groups had considered to be strictly limited under federal #law.

#AbuseOfPower

Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai

But by a 2-to-1 vote, the appeals court panel ruled that under the #Impoundment Control Act of 1974, only the Government Accountability Office [#USGAO], which serves as #Congress's independent #watchdog, could challenge #Trump’s efforts to withhold #ForeignAid funding. The panel found that groups that receive government #funding — in this instance, a number of #global #health nonprofits — do not have cause to challenge Trump’s funding cuts.

#law #AbuseOfPower

Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai

The decision lifted a lower court’s order that had required the admin to continue processing #ForeignAid payments w/funds #Congress had budgeted.

In finding that the #Trump admin had unlawfully delayed money Congress appropriated, a lower court previously required the govt to make available all the aid funds Congress allocated for fiscal year 2024. That included nearly $4B to spend on #global #health activities until Sept, & >$6B for #HIV / #AIDS programs through 2028.

#law #AbuseOfPower