US High Court stays ‘Trump funding freeze

The Supreme Court on Friday extended an order that allows President Donald Trump's administration to keep frozen nearly $5 billion in foreign aid, handing him another victory in a dispute over presidential power.

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PRESIDENT Donald Trump (center) is escorted by Air Force Col. Christopher M. Robinson, commander of the 89th Airlift Wing (right), as he walks from Marine One to board Air Force One, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (AP)

(AP)

With the three liberal justices in dissent, the court's conservative majority granted the Republican administration’s emergency appeal in acase involving billions of dollars in congressionally approved aid. Trump said last month that he would not spend the money, invoking disputed authority that was last used by a president roughly 50 years ago.

The Justice Department sought the High Court's intervention after US District Judge Amir Ali ruled that Trump's action was likely illegal and that Congress would have to approve the decision to withhold the funding.

The federal appeals court in Washington declined to put Ali's ruling on hold, but Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked it on Sept. 9. The full court indefinitely extended Roberts! order.