Overview

• The justices stayed a lower-court ruling that had required immediate disbursement, keeping the freeze in place during the litigation.
• The majority said the suing organizations likely lack standing and warned that forcing payments could impair the President’s foreign‑policy authority.
• Justice Elena Kagan dissented, arguing the decision undermines Congress’s constitutional power of the purse and breaches separation of powers.
• The blocked money involves State Department, USAID and international assistance programs that were set to lapse on September 30 after an end‑of‑year maneuver the GAO labeled illegal.
• The administration has told Congress it seeks to reprogram about $1.8 billion to 'America First' priorities such as Greenland investments, countering China in Latin America and addressing immigration.