Wham! The Supremes Just Told Trump He Cannot Withhold USAID Money Already Contracted For -- At The Federal Level -- In AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition Cases...

Team Tangerine 2.0 had previously gotten a very short administrative stay while the Chief Justice evaluated the moving papers. But this is money USAID was already committed to spend, and upon which many, many people and dozens of charities the world over were placing their substantial reliance interests -- changing their lives, spending their own monies, and making commitments to local governments -- all in reliance on the already awarded and contracted-for fundings.

Early this morning, a majority of five Justices said that the Congress meant exactly what it said -- and the District Court's TRO will stand, and be fleshed out to operationalize sending these already contracted-for funds (about $2 billion) to the agencies and charities owed them.

The key factor here is Chief Justice Roberts, along with the liberal three -- and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett (usually voting with the conservative wing, so a big win here!) -- are going to stand up to Trump's lawlessness. He is. . . largely impotent, here. See the terse order, in full:

. . .On February 13, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered a temporary restraining order enjoining the Government from enforcing directives pausing disbursements of foreign development assistance funds. The present application does not challenge the Government’s obligation to follow that order. On February 25, the District Court ordered the Government to issue payments for a portion of the paused disbursements—those owed for work already completed before the issuance of the District Court’s temporary restraining order—by 11:59 p.m. on February 26. Several hours before that deadline, the Government filed this application to vacate the District Court’s February 25 order and requested an immediate administrative stay. THE CHIEF JUSTICE entered an administrative stay shortly before the 11:59 p.m. deadline and subsequently referred the application to the Court.

The application is denied.

Given that the deadline in the challenged order has now passed, and in light of the ongoing preliminary injunction proceedings, the District Court should clarify what obligations the Government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines.

The order heretofore entered by THE CHIEF JUSTICE is vacated. . . .

Alito wrote a whining dissent. You may safely ignore it. Y A W N.

नमस्ते