The courts say f-ck you to starving children around the world

President Donald Trump

A panel of U.S. appeals court judges handed President Donald Trump another win Wednesday, cutting off billions in funding for foreign aid. 

According to the ruling, Trump doesn’t have to spend any of the money as allocated, and, more so, only the legislative branch has the power to sue the Trump administration for changing the planned budget. 

A cartoon by Clay Jones.

The fate remains unclear for grant recipients, who had already been awarded some of the $6 billion for HIV/AIDS programs and $4 billion for the U.S. Agency for International Development, which Trump shuttered on July 1.

But on top of freezing money already approved for spending, the Trump administration is also literally burning resources that it doesn’t like, including 500 metric tons of emergency biscuits designated to feed children in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The administration also burned through $9.7 million worth of contraceptives stored in Belgium that were meant to go to African communities. 

Now with more than 83% of USAID programs shut down, the impact is felt around the world as humanitarian efforts are unable to bring in enough funds to provide help to those in need. 

Earlier this month, several USAID-funded communal kitchens in Sudan closed entirely, impacting nearly 3 million people facing famine in the war-torn area. And over the last 6 months, at least 652 children died in Nigeria due to malnutrition as a direct result of funding cuts. 

But despite these gruesome truths, Trump is going to continue to roll back foreign aid. And thanks to the courts, now no one can stop him.