President Donald Trump is attempting to revive the president’s constitutional authority to refuse to spend funds in discrete categories.
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OpponentsofPresidentDonaldTrump’sUSAIDspendingfreezewilltakecheerfromtheSupremeCourt’srefusaltointervenethisweek. Butthereislesscauseforcelebrationthantheyclaim. TheJustices’decisiontoallowatrialjudge’sorderresumingspendingtoproceedismerelythefirstproceduralskirmishinalargerconstitutionalbattlethatwillreturntotheCourt. Inthemeantime,Trump’scampaigntorestoreexecutiveenergywillstillplayoutwiththehomefieldadvantagecreatedbytheConstitutionitself.
InDepartmentofStatev.AidsVaccineAdvocacyCoalition,aD.C.federaltrialjudgeissuedanorderforcingtheadministrationtoreleaseabout$2billiontoAmerican-basedhumanitarianaidgroups. Upontakingoffice,Trumpordereda90-dayfreezeofforeignaidtodeterminethatthegrantsremainedeffectiveandlegitimate,properlydisbursed,andinU.S.foreignpolicyandnationalsecurityinterests.JudgeAmirAli,justconfirmedbytheSenatetotheD.C.federaldistrictco
