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yesterday

Trump Escalates Shutdown-Era Spending Cancellations as Courts Deliver Mixed Rulings

Emergency orders from the Supreme Court have kept several contested cuts in effect for now.

Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, attends a ceremony where President Donald Trump will present the Presidential Medal of Freedom for Charlie Kirk to his widow Erika Kirk in the Rose Garden of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump, center, joined by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, left, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, right, speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Tokyo, Japan, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., pauses as he takes questions from reporters on day 27 of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
During the shutdown, President Trump has made funding decisions without Congressional approval, like White House renovations and military pay

Overview

  • States, cities and nonprofits have filed more than 150 lawsuits challenging the administration’s unilateral spending moves during the shutdown.
  • An AP analysis through early October found courts temporarily blocked the administration in 66 of 152 cases, allowed it to proceed in 37, with 26 undecided.
  • Democratic appropriators estimate about $410 billion in freezes or cancellations as of early September, a figure the administration disputes, with new targets identified during the shutdown.
  • The Supreme Court has provisionally allowed plans to close the Education Department, freeze $5 billion in foreign aid via a pocket rescission, and cut some NIH-supported research funding.
  • Lower courts frequently cited separation-of-powers and Administrative Procedure Act concerns, while a recent high-court ruling steers many grant disputes toward the Court of Federal Claims, complicating plaintiffs’ paths to relief.