'Big problem': MAGA melts down at Trump-appointed SCOTUS justice after ruling against him
On Wednesday, the conservative-dominated Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued a rare ruling against President Donald Trump. Some of his biggest supporters are particularly unhappy with one of those justices.
While the SCOTUS has a 6-3 conservative supermajority, Trump nonetheless suffered a 5-4 loss when the Court ruled that roughly $2 billion in federal funds for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had to be disbursed. The Daily Beast reported that Justice Amy Coney Barrett (who Trump appointed in 2020) was the target of outrage from MAGA social media pundits after she and Chief Justice John Roberts joined the three Democratic-appointed justices.
After the decision was handed down, pro-Trump X influencer Paul A. Szybula said that Barrett had been a "disappointment," lamenting the bad precedent" that U.S. District Court judges could now compel the government to "waste billions overseas." Eric Daugherty, who is the assistant news director for MAGA news site Florida's Voice, called Barrett a "big problem."
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"The writing was on the wall with Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment, and now the consequences will be felt for generations," far-right Substack writer Hans Mahncke tweeted. "Don’t ever let the Federalist Society pick judges again."
George W. Bush appointee Samuel Alito sided with Trump's motion to freeze the funding along with Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas. In his dissent, Alito argued it was unfair that "a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction" can "have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars."
Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis also blasted the Court's decision, and stated "this decision gives a green light to every 'resistance' judge to throw sand in the gears of the President’s Article II authority." He added that the Supreme Court "missed a huge opportunity to put a stop to rogue district courts interfering with executive branch operations."
However, the Court's majority opinion held that Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress the explicit power of the purse, necessitated the disbursement of the frozen USAID funds. They noted that because Congress had already appropriated the money in legislation already signed into law, it was illegal for Trump to attempt to freeze it.
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Click here to read the Beast's full report (subscription required).
