A court victory for Trump's foreign aid cuts, briefly explained
This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.
Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration's decision to cancel billions in foreign aid can stand, a federal appeals court said today, in a major blow to global humanitarian aid.
What did the court actually decide? A three-judge panel on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the plaintiffs in the case weren't eligible to bring the suit in the first place.
The majority found that only the Government Accountability Office can challenge the administration's decision to withhold congressionally appropriated funds under a specific process laid out in the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
What's the context for this decision? Donald Trump and Elon Musk made US foreign aid programs one of their first targets upon taking power in January. Musk boasted about feeding the US Agency for International Development 'into the wood chipper,' and Trump withheld billions in spending already authorized by Congress.
A number of humanitarian nonprofits sued to restore the withheld funds, alleging it was an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers — but today's ruling punts on that question altogether, instead focusing on procedure.
What will the impact of this freeze be? To put it simply, US foreign aid saves lives, and cutting it will cost them. Among the money the Trump administration will now be allowed to withhold is billions of dollars in funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and other global health programs.
As the New York Times calculated earlier this year, the potential death toll for slashing US aid is more than 1.5 million people in 2025 alone; many, including young children, have already died.
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What else should I know? Separate from the human impact, this is a significant decision for the Trump administration's efforts to impound congressionally appropriated funds, for foreign aid and other purposes. Unless or until the GAO sues over impoundment, the administration can keep at it and keep chipping away at the separation of powers in the process.
And with that, it's time to log off…
You know what The Logoff hasn't featured in a while? That's right — an animal livestream. Today I'm spotlighting one of my favorites from Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, Alaska.
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7 minutes ago
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In the Oval Office, the president ran through a list of customer service improvements his administration put in place at the Social Security Administration since January. He said on the 90th anniversary of the program that the administration's changes would expand services, preserve Social Security's future and help enroll beneficiaries. Options to privatize Social Security surfaced again this month when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said new tax-deferred investment accounts dubbed ' Trump accounts ' may serve as a ' backdoor to privatization,' although the Treasury Department walked back those comments. Meanwhile, the Trump administration experienced a temporary setback in court Thursday over its efforts to access Medicaid data to help find and arrest migrants without legal status. A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Health and Human Services Department from sharing sensitive Medicaid information with immigration officials. HEALTH: Congress has been lukewarm about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s ideas about how to 'Make America Healthy Again' (MAHA). But in a bipartisan collection of states, some of Kennedy's ideas are catching fire, according to a detailed Politico report about nearly 900 health-related measures proposed outside of Washington. Meanwhile, there's money to be made from the MAHA movement as the Trump administration exerts unprecedented public pressure on the processed-food industry to change its formulas. Food companies want in. Opinion ■ No matter its outcome, the meeting in Alaska will be a success for Putin, by Jacek Czaputowicz, opinion contributor, The Hill. ■ Putin should be careful what he wishes for, by Hanna Notte, guest essayist, The New York Times. The Closer And finally … 👏👏👏 Kudos to this week's Morning Report Quiz winners! With war and peace in mind, we looked for smart guesses about Alaska, the site of today's meetup between Trump and Putin. Here's who went 4/4: Mark Roeddiger, Richard E. Baznik, Rick Schmidtke, Jeanne Kosch, Stanton Kirk, Mark R. Williamson, Laura Rettaliata, William Chittam, Chuck Schoenenberger, Linda Kavalsky, Peter Sprofera, Alan Johnson, Michael Askew, Harry Strulovici, Lynn Gardner, Phil Kirstein, Pam Manges, Steve Comer, Brian Hogan, Jim McElroy, John Trombetti, Steve James, Carmine Petracca, Jay Rockey, Julie Barnes, Linda L. Field, Savannah Petracca and Stan Wasser. They knew that Czar Alexander II sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million in an 1867 transaction. Alaska's largest export is seafood. During the 2008 presidential contest, a remark — 'You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska' — inspired a famous joke on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' (SNL) about former Gov. Sarah Palin (R) and foreign policy experience. In 2021, top U.S. officials traveled to Alaska for two days of contentious talks with representatives from China.
