Appeals Court Backs Trump on Foreign Aid Freeze, Environmental Review Case

A federal appeals court on Wednesday lifted an injunction that had required the U.S. State Department to continue making foreign aid payments, delivering a legal victory for President Donald Trump. The 2-1 ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court found that nonprofit organizations lacked the legal standing to challenge Trump’s executive order, which had paused foreign aid on the day of his second inauguration.

The order halted all foreign assistance for 90 days and signaled deep cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), including placing staff on leave and considering folding the agency into the State Department. Two federally funded nonprofits — the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Journalism Development Network — had sued, resulting in a lower court order to release nearly $2 billion in aid. Appeals Judge Karen Henderson, joined by Trump appointee Gregory Katsas, ruled that only the Government Accountability Office has the authority to contest such executive decisions.

In her dissent, Judge Florence Pan, a Biden appointee, argued that the ruling effectively allows the president to bypass Congress’s power of the purse, threatening the balance of power. She warned the court’s decision “derails the carefully crafted system of checked and balanced power.”

A spokesperson from the White House budget office welcomed the outcome, calling the nonprofits “radical left dark money groups” trying to obstruct Trump’s “America First” foreign policy agenda.

Trump also secured another legal win at the Supreme Court, where justices unanimously narrowed environmental review rules for infrastructure projects. Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinion emphasized agency discretion under the National Environmental Policy Act, speeding up project approvals with bipartisan support.