The opening weeks of the second Trump administration have proven to be hard on everyone, even Trump himself. He’s given absolutely no focus to any kind of work governing, and instead focused on increasing his power. That’s proven difficult in quite a few cases.

It’s not like the GOP (or even the Democrats) are giving him any kind of meaningful opposition as he attempts to turn traditions and norms on their collective ear in America. The Democrats feel powerless, being in the minority of both Chambers of Congress. And the Republicans who aren’t necessarily MAGA fear that Trump and his Elon Musk-led campaign apparatus will fund primary opponents against them if they dare to disagree.

The only folks willing to stand up to Trump right now are in courtrooms.

Whether that’s state Attorneys General, District Judges, or even the Supreme Court, the judicial branch is the only thing stopping Trump right now.

Who knew that dusty old Constitution would come in handy one day? But MAGA Republicans are loathe to admit that the judicial branch is an equal power to the legislative branch or the executive branch. At least, they are when judges rule against them.

And they spent so much blood and treasure getting the Supreme Court packed to a 6-3 conservative majority that Republicans — especially of the MAGA type — feel like those 6 Justices owe Donald Trump every single vote in his favor.

Unfortunately for them, the Justices don’t necessarily feel the same way, especially when it comes to the Bush-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts and the Trump-appointed Amy Coney Barrett.

The latest ruling against Trump comes as he fights to completely defund USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. It’s the agency that oversees much of the foreign aid doled out by the United States, including nutrition and birth control for Africa and developing nations.

Trump has been trying to withhold, via executive order, billions of dollars in foreign aid, which his fraudulent “Department” of Government Efficiency has deemed wasteful or the product of corruption and grift.

In fact, he had sought to simply not pay $2 billion that was already owed from existing contracts with USAID, including a massive shipment of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food that piled up in a warehouse in Georgia until there was enough outcry that Elon Musk rescinded his draconian order that it be stowed.

On Feb 13, District Judge Amir Ali ordered the Trump administration to pay up.

Trump has been battling it out since then on multiple fronts, with court cases over any number of his orders, but this one the most pressing. And when the case finally made it to the Supreme Court, he expected that “his” justices would rule in his favor. They did not. MAGA is furious.

Curiously, Barrett has taken most of the flak, possibly an indicator of how much MAGA believes she “owes” her seat on the nation’s highest court to their Dear Leader. Among the things she’s been called since SCOTUS upheld Judge Ali’s decision: “Disgraceful,” a “bad SCOTUS nominee,” and “a big problem.”

And that’s just from right-wing influencers.

One Substack writer that appeals to the ultra right, Hans Mahncke, wrote “The anti-Trump majority on the Supreme Court may have ruled that the federal government must pay for these canceled USAID projects, but that doesn’t mean the money should flow without a fight. This fight isn’t over—it’s just shifting to a different battlefield.”

Chief Justice Roberts had previously paused the deadline for payment implemented by Judge Ali so that the Supreme Court could examine the case. And that was the extent of his involvement as of last night’s presidential address to the joint session of Congress. As you can see here, Trump still believed last night that Roberts would rule in his favor, since he had been kind enough to stay Ali’s judicial hand as far as when the funds should be paid:

Trump to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts last night after his presidential address to Congress: “Thank you again. Thank you again. Won’t forget it.” pic.twitter.com/EOblPpe6MQ

— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) March 5, 2025

That deadline had been for February 26, before the case made it to SCOTUS, which appears to be the only reason Roberts paused it. And since the ruling, SCOTUS has not issued guidance on when the funds must be paid by.

But the 5–4 ruling itself — with two of the reliably conservative justices siding with the 3 liberals on the court — was enough to incense Trump and the MAGA masses.

And what guidance they did issue was vague enough to allow Ali some leeway: “[C]larify what obligations the government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines.”

As in, yeah, Trump has to pay. Just make sure you don’t tempt him to write a post-dated check.