A panel of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today partially vacated a lower court’s ruling that directed the Trump administration to continue spending billions of dollars in foreign assistance funding appropriated by Congress.
Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, wrote in a 2-1 majority opinion that the nonprofit groups and aid organizations challenging the frozen funding lacked cause in bringing their impoundment claims.
“The district court erred in granting that relief because the grantees lack a cause of action to press their claims,” Henderson wrote.
Henderson and Judge Gregory Katsas, an appointee of President Donald Trump, found that only the U.S. Comptroller General, who leads the Government Accountability Office “may step in” to sue, serving “as an enforcer of the statutory scheme, which controls any efforts by the President to impound appropriated funds.”
The amounts at issue include almost $4 billion for the U.S. Agency for International Development to spend on global health activities through Sept. 30, 2025, and over $6 billion dollars for HIV/AIDS programs to be spent until Sept. 30, 2028.
Judge Florence Pan, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, wrote in a dissenting opinion that called the court’s finding “as startling as it is erroneous.”
“The majority holds that when the President refuses to spend funds appropriated by Congress based on policy disagreements, that is merely a statutory violation and raises no constitutional alarm bells,” Pan wrote.
“But the factual scenario presented plainly implicates the structure of our government and the roles played by its coordinate branch,” she added.
Lauren Bateman, an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group and lead counsel on this case said in a statement to NBC News that the decision marked “a significant setback for the rule of law and risks further erosion of basic separation of powers principles.”
“We will seek further review from the court, and our lawsuit will continue regardless as we seek permanent relief from the Administration’s unlawful termination of the vast majority of foreign assistance,” Bateman said.