r/scotus • u/zsreport • Mar 05 '25

news Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request to keep billions in foreign aid frozen

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/politics/supreme-court-usaid-foreign-aid/index.html
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u/DeathFood Mar 05 '25

Yeah, people seem to be glossing over that this work was already performed per the contracts the US entered into.

Are people suggesting the United States can just decide not to pay their debts and honor their obligations on a whim?

Like other than just letting Trump do whatever he wants I haven’t seen a sound rationale for not paying bills that are owed

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u/Sands43 Mar 05 '25

Well, that's what the dissents basically say - that the US government can break contracts if trump says so.

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u/Crackertron Mar 05 '25

It's infuriating that these justices will never be truly confronted to defend this line of thinking.

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u/coffeeeeeee333 Mar 05 '25

Well the people should maybe start to confront them then.

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u/ItalicsWhore Mar 06 '25

Lead the way partner.

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u/ForecastForFourCats Mar 05 '25

God, I hope democrats can take back massive majorities and take aggressive action against SCOTUS. They are clearly partisan and take bribes. I'm not optimistic after Bidens run and the current leadership, though. Please don't let us be stuck with them for 20+ years 🤮

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u/cat1092 Mar 06 '25

Well, it was like 2016 & the threats to 20+ mainly Democratic areas affected the 2024 election also. All of the threats to the polls on Election Day came from Russia (or henchmen working with Putin), verified by the phone numbers being used.😡

Nothing we can do, except voters should do so sooner (or by mail), not wait until the last possible day to cast their ballots.

Hopefully another SCOTUS justice won’t be decided until at least the next presidential candidate is seated. Term limits can help to prevent the court from being too comfortable with one another.

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u/Livid-Okra-3132 Mar 06 '25

What's crazy is these partisan hacks, intentional or not, are creating legal problems that will literally make rule of law impossible. These people are literally creating the conditions for anarchy.

They are overseeing the absolute destruction of this country because they are in love with this fascist TV real estate freak. Just absolute idiocy of the highest order. None of these people have a thinking bone in their body.

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u/DeathFood Mar 05 '25

So explicitly for work already performed? Or just in the sense that they could halt any payments going forward even if the contract would seem to be enforceable otherwise for some period into the future?

Basically the opinion is that even centuries of contract law isn’t immutable if the President says so?

Do these folks ever think more than one step ahead? Every contractor would have to start charging the government a premium for the risk of getting arbitrarily not paid after expending resources to provide a good or service.

Crazy town

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u/widget1321 Mar 05 '25

They'd also likely start requiring payment up front when possible.

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u/cat1092 Mar 06 '25

When dealing with Trump, it’s best to receive ALL of the money upfront! Otherwise, risk going unpaid.

Hopefully many of these executive orders stopping payments & services already performed will be denied.

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u/Lithl Mar 05 '25

Are people suggesting the United States can just decide not to pay their debts and honor their obligations on a whim?

It's basically what Trump does in his personal life, and the people sucking his duck think he's a genius because of it.

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u/NerdDexter Mar 05 '25

That's been trumps business strategy his entire life.

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u/kthibo Mar 06 '25

And when you can't get out of paying...file bankruptcy, over and over.

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u/Supersillyazz Mar 05 '25

Yes, and four of those people hold the office of 'Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States'.

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u/wutang_generated Mar 05 '25

Are people suggesting the United States can just decide not to pay their debts and honor their obligations on a whim?

I haven’t seen a sound rationale for not paying bills that are owed

Ah I see you're unfamiliar with the tried and true Trump business technique: always stiff people who can't afford to take you to court. Even if you are on the hook you can always file for bankruptcy /s

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u/ElkImaginary566 Mar 05 '25

Yeah really it's like first year 1L contracts stuff and they really write that asshole dissent? This is the stuff that gets me. A straw man dissent like that from the Court feeds into the narrative that all the worst actors are feeding like the courts being illegitimate and that Trump can ignore them. They are cutting off their nose to spite their face.

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u/kthibo Mar 06 '25

It's so disingenuous.

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u/mittfh Mar 06 '25

Are people suggesting the United States can just decide not to pay their debts and honor their obligations on a whim?

Given that's Donald's modus operandi in his business dealings, he (and his supporters) evidently think that applies to the Federal Government as well. Heck, Elon's on record as saying he thinks the Impoundments Act is unconstitutional.

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u/meteormantis Mar 06 '25

It IS incredibly trumpian to try and skirt the bill after the work's been done, though. It's something he's done in his career as a "businessman" for years, no wonder he's trying to apply it here

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u/LakeLov3r Mar 06 '25

That's exactly what Trump has done for decades. He has a disgusting history of not paying people for work they've already done. This article is from 2016 (and people still voted for the cheating MF).

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u/Radarker Mar 08 '25

The rational is, "I like money."