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[link removed] September 26, 2025


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US Supreme Court Gives the Administration a Free Pass to Withhold Foreign Aid
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AVAC Denounces Court’s Misguided Late-Day Ruling

Late today in AVAC v Department of State ([link removed]) and Global Health Council v Trump ([link removed]) , the Supreme Court of the United States granted the US Presidential Administration’s request to stay an injunction that would require the Administration to obligate $4 billion of foreign assistance funds before they expire on September 30, as required by law. The Court’s ruling temporarily grants the Administration’s request to pause a lower court order that the government spend the funds. With just four days until September 30, those funds, which otherwise would have saved lives and advanced global health and national security, will remain unspent.

“With this ruling, the Supreme Court has given the Administration a free pass to run out the clock on the disbursement of foreign aid that Congress appropriated. Since foreign aid was frozen on the first day of this Administration, we have seen thousands of clinics close, hundreds of thousands of communities lose access to essential services and medications, and thousands of lives lost,” said Mitchell Warren ([link removed]) , executive director of AVAC, a plaintiff in the case. “This ruling will translate into further devastation, put future global health responses at risk, and set a dangerous precedent that undermines Congress’ constitutional power of the purse.”

“But this is beyond foreign assistance; the Court’s decision is a chilling one for anyone who cares about the US Constitution. While their ruling is only preliminary and should not be read as a final determination on the merits, it is terribly misguided and potentially implies that the Administration can disregard Congressional power of the purse and now seemingly impound Congressionally appropriated funds whenever it wants,” added Warren.

In a powerful dissent, three Supreme Court justices led by Justice Elena Kagan issued a warning that the stakes in this case are far too significant to be decided through the Court’s emergency docket without full briefing or oral arguments, underscoring the extraordinary nature and far-reaching consequences of the Administration’s unlawful actions. “Deciding the question presented thus requires the Court to work in uncharted territory. And, to repeat, the stakes are high: At issue is the allocation of power between the Executive and Congress over the expenditure of public monies,” Justice Kagan wrote in her dissent. “The standard for granting emergency relief is supposed to be stringent. The Executive has not come close to meeting it here.”

About AVAC

AVAC is an international non-profit organization that provides an independent voice and leverages global partnerships to accelerate ethical development and equitable delivery of effective HIV prevention options, as part of a comprehensive and integrated pathway to global health equity. Follow AVAC on Twitter @HIVpxresearch ([link removed]) ; find more at www.avac.org ([link removed]) and www.prepwatch.org ([link removed]) .

Contact: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
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AVAC Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention
+1 212 796 6423 [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) www.avac.org ([link removed])
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