WASHINGTON (September 10, 2025) – In an emergency appeal on Tuesday, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily kept in place the Trump administration’s action to freeze about $5 billion in foreign aid.
In August, Trump wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) he would not spend $4.9 billion in congressional approved foreign aid, essentially cutting the budget without going through Congress, which U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled last week was likely illegal and Congress would have to approve the decision to withhold the funding.
Experts at the George Washington University are available to comment on the ongoing developments of the appeal and impact of this decision. To speak with an expert, please reach out to Media Relations Specialist Shannon Mitchell at shannon [dot] mitchell
gwu [dot] edu (shannon[dot]mitchell[at]gwu[dot]edu).
International Affairs
Sean Roberts, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Professor of Practice of International Affairs at the Elliott of International Affairs. Roberts is an expert on Human Rights, Civil Society, Governance, Democratization, Indigenous and Minority Rights, Central Asia and former Soviet Union. Additionally, he worked for USAID for seven years.
Roberts said, “The damage has already been done to the development sector since this money has been held up so long and projects have already been cancelled. Now, it is more an issue of precedent and the extent of executive power.”
Law
Rosa Celorio, the Burnett Family Associate Dean and Distinguished Lecturer for International Law at the George Washington University Law School. Celorio is an expert on International Law, International Law of Human Rights, and International Rights of Women. She previously worked as Senior Attorney for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), one of the main organs of the regional human rights protection system for the Americas, where she held several leadership positions, including the supervision of all the legal work performed by the specialized Rapporteurships on women, LGBTIQ+ persons, Indigenous peoples, racial discrimination, and children.
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