US Appeals Court Backs Trump’s Move to Cut Billions in Foreign Aid

A federal appeals court has handed President Donald Trump a big win in his push to slash foreign aid, overturning a lower court order that had required the government to keep payments flowing.

The two-to-one ruling, issued Wednesday, clears the way for Trump to press ahead with efforts to freeze about $10bn in congressionally approved funds — including $4bn for USAID and $6bn for global HIV and AIDS programs.

But the judges didn’t actually decide whether Trump can legally kill those funds. Instead, the majority said the groups suing him never had the standing for an injunction in the first place.

Writing for the court, Judge Karen Henderson said the organizations — among them the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Journalism Development Network — “lack a cause of action to press their claims.” She added that “the grantees have failed to satisfy the requirements for a preliminary injunction in any event.”

Henderson, a George HW Bush appointee, was joined by Gregory Katsas, who was nominated by Trump. The lone dissent came from Judge Florence Pan, a Biden pick, who accused the court of enabling an abuse of presidential power.

“The court’s acquiescence in and facilitation of the Executive’s unlawful behaviour derails the carefully crafted system of checked and balanced power that serves as the greatest security against tyranny — the accumulation of excessive authority in a single Branch,” Pan wrote.

The decision is the latest chapter in Trump’s sweeping campaign to overhaul the federal government. Almost as soon as he took office, he froze all foreign aid for 90 days, then moved to fold USAID into the State Department — effectively gutting the agency. By March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced 83 percent of USAID contracts had been cancelled.

Trump has pitched the cuts as an attack on “waste” and “bloat,” part of his “America First” agenda. But critics say the president is overstepping, dismantling programs Congress created and funded.

Congress itself is now on Trump’s side: with Republicans in control, lawmakers passed the Rescission Act of 2025 this summer, clawing back nearly $9bn in foreign aid and public broadcasting money.

Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the ruling. She said the Department of Justice would “continue to successfully protect core Presidential authorities from judicial overreach.”