South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to a federal appeals court in support of President Trump’s decision to pause certain foreign aid funds. This action, co-led with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, has garnered the backing of 20 states.
Attorney General Wilson emphasized the constitutional authority granted to the president over foreign affairs, stating, “The Constitution is clear. Article II gives the president decision-making power regarding foreign affairs.” He added that decisions on foreign aid spending fall within these executive powers.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia had previously issued a preliminary injunction blocking President Trump’s attempt to reduce some foreign aid spending. The president is appealing this decision at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The brief from the attorneys general seeks to have this injunction reversed.
In their argument, the attorneys general reference the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which they claim allows for executive discretion in disbursing foreign aid. They argue that Congress authorized the president to use his judgment in administering such assistance and that he possesses broad authority under this act.
Critics maintain that since Congress approved these funds for foreign assistance, it is not within the president’s power to withhold them. However, according to the attorneys general’s brief, Congressional appropriations represent a budgetary ceiling rather than a mandatory floor.
“While Congress has exclusive authority under Article I to raise taxes and appropriate federal funds for specific purposes,” they write in their brief, “that power does not extend to micromanaging the President’s expenditures of the funds Congress appropriates.”
Besides South Carolina and Ohio, other states joining this brief include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
