The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to withhold $4 billion in foreign aid that had been appropriated by Congress in a major test of Mr. Trump’s efforts to wrest the power of the purse from the legislature.
In its brief order, the court’s conservative majority said the president’s ability to conduct foreign affairs appeared “to outweigh the potential harm” faced by foreign aid recipients. The court cautioned that its decision, technically a temporary holding while litigation continues through the lower courts, “should not be read as a final determination on the merits.”
