Let me tell you what’s been happening while you weren’t looking. Unelected judges have been using their power like a club against the will of the American people. Deep-pocketed activist groups turned courtrooms into their personal policy shops. Since when do judges get to decide where your tax dollars go?

The resistance to President Trump’s America First agenda has been fierce. Liberal organizations used every legal trick to keep billions of taxpayer dollars flowing overseas. Meanwhile, American communities struggle. They thought they found the perfect way to get around what voters wanted.

From Daily Caller:

A federal appeals court on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to block billions of dollars in foreign aid funds.

The legislative branch’s Government Accountability Office (GAO) must bring challenges to administration decisions to withhold funding, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found in a 2-1 decision…

The majority blocked an injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in March that required the administration to restore the frozen funds. A group of grant recipients initially sued in February over President Donald Trump’s day-one executive order directing the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to pause foreign aid funding.

But this week – finally, some common sense! President Trump scored a major victory when a federal appeals court ruled 2-1 that his administration can block billions in foreign aid funds. (Yes, you read that right – billions with a ‘B’.)

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found that private groups trying to force these payments don’t have the legal standing to challenge the president’s decisions. The ruling immediately affects about $2 billion in USAID payments that had been tied up in legal battles.

Legal Standing Matters

Here’s what the media won’t tell you about this ruling. Judge Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee, struck down a lower court’s order that forced the administration to keep making foreign aid payments. The judge made it simple. These nonprofit organizations don’t have the right to sue. Not the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition. Not the Journalism Development Network. None of them.

Under a 1974 law called the Impoundment Control Act, only one group can challenge these decisions. That’s the Government Accountability Office – a congressional watchdog. This isn’t just legal technicality. It’s about keeping any activist group with a lawyer from running American foreign policy. Makes sense, right?

America First Wins Again

This is just the start. The Trump administration has identified nearly $60 billion in foreign aid spending for review. Plans call for eliminating 92% of USAID grants. Remember when America used to put Americans first? That’s $60 billion that could fix our roads, secure our border, and help our own communities.

This appeals court victory tastes even sweeter given what happened in March 2025. The Supreme Court had rejected the administration’s bid in a narrow 5-4 decision. But persistence pays off. The administration’s legal strategy has now been vindicated. Congress already approved clawing back $8 billion meant for USAID in July 2025. Even Congress is waking up to the need for reform.

The court’s ruling sends a clear message. The days of radical activist groups using friendly judges to override presidential authority are numbered. Biden-appointed Judge Florence Pan dissented with warnings about “tyranny.” But think about it – what’s the real threat to democracy? Is it a president doing what voters elected him to do? Or is it unelected groups overriding those policies? This victory puts foreign policy back where it belongs. In the hands of a president accountable to you, the American voter.

Key Takeaways

• Federal appeals court blocks activist groups from controlling $2 billion in foreign aid
• Private organizations can’t override presidential authority on foreign policy decisions
• Trump administration can now redirect $60 billion from overseas to American priorities
• Victory reverses earlier court defeats and restores constitutional balance

Sources: Daily Caller, New York Post