U.S. Supreme Court allows Trump to keep US$4 billion in foreign aid frozen
File pic of U.S. President Donald Trump replies to a question during an event in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US (Photo: Reuters/Brian Snyder)
WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to continue withholding around US$4 billion in foreign aid already approved by Congress, keeping the funds frozen until the legal case is resolved.
The court noted the order does not represent a final ruling on the merits of the dispute, reported Xinhua.
The lawsuit concerns foreign aid funds set to expire on September 30, following Trump's controversial move last month to cut the allocations. The money was earmarked for programmes run by the State Department, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and other international aid initiatives.
According to the Office of Management and Budget, Trump is resorting to so-called pocket rescission - a budgetary manoeuvre that the US Court of Auditors has deemed illegal.
This occurs whenever a US president asks Congress to cut funds shortly before the end of the fiscal year so that they expire before they can be used for new purposes.
The fiscal year runs until the end of September.
--BERNAMA-dpa
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