Supreme Court denies Trump request to block $2 billion foreign-aid payment
Barrett and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined the court’s three liberals in backing a federal judge’s order that requires the administration to begin repaying global health groups nearly $2 billion for completed work.
A divided Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down a request by the Trump administration to lift an order by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that had directed the State […]
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Trump cut lifesaving foreign aid as State Department planned to buy expensive art for embassies
Now part of the $2 billion that SCOTUS said could not be halted from being paid included...
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But at least initially, the budget for expensive artwork to hang in U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide remained robust.
The State Department planned, for instance, to purchase a $650,000 “triple-height suspended sculpture” for its embassy in Brasília. It had designs on a $55,000 “wall installation” in Malawi. A “textile work” that costs $105,000 and a $94,000 “suspended sculpture that would span two levels” were on the books for Mauritius. And $550,000 was set aside for “three ceiling suspended sculptures” that would hang in the “main atrium space” of the American embassy in Riyadh.
The intended purchases, which total nearly $2 million, were described to me by a U.S. government official with information about the State Department’s spending plans. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity, for fear of retribution. I verified the planned acquisitions by reviewing a government document—dated earlier this month, weeks after Donald Trump took office—with itemized descriptions of the artwork."
The intended purchases, which total nearly $2 million, were described by a U.S. government official with information about the State Department’s spending plans.
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QUESTiON: Did SCOTUS know that part of the above $2 billion was to be used to buy sculptures and not to fee the hungry?