Tipsheet

6-3 Supreme Court Ruling Backs Trump, Halts Billions in Foreign Spending

Scott McClallen
Scott McClallen  |  September 26, 2025 5:30 PM

The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed Trump to freeze about $4 billion worth of foreign aid. 

The nine-page ruling released on Sept. 26 approved a temporary stay of a previous order. 

"BREAKING - TRUMP WINS AT SCOTUS: 6-3, President Trump's pocket recission of $4 billion worth of foreign aid UPHELD. A BRUTAL loss for activist judges nationwide. Article 2 wins. Wasteful foreign aid is slashed."

The order is only temporary, the justices wrote, and should not be read as final.  

“After the District Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied stays of that order, the Government filed this application to stay the District Court’s injunction. The application for stay presented to THE CHIEF JUSTICE and by him referred to the Court is granted."

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 "The Government, at this early stage, has made a sufficient showing that the Impoundment Control Act precludes respondents’ suit, brought pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, to enforce the appropriations at issue here. The Government has also made a sufficient showing that mandamus relief Is unavailable to respondents. And, on the record before the Court, the asserted harms to the Executive’s conduct of foreign affairs appear to outweigh the potential harm faced by respondents. This order should not be read as a final determination on the merits. The relief granted by the Court today reflects our preliminary view, consistent with the standards for interim relief.”

 

Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Jackson dissented. 

Congress had approved the $4 billion meant for foreign aid, but Trump's administration rescinded the money. The Trump administration says it is Making America Great Again by focusing on the U.S. instead of sending billions of dollars in aid overseas. 

On September 3, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered a preliminary injunction directing the Executive to obligate $10.5 billion of appropriated aid funding set to expire on September 30. Of that $10.5 billion, $4 billion was proposed to be rescinded pursuant to the Impoundment Control Act. 

After the District Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied stays of that order, the Government filed this application to stay the District Court’s injunction.

The ruling follows a string of court wins for Trump's administration.

Attorney Mike Davis welcomed the ruling.