Department of State v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition

The federal government asks the Supreme Court to pause (stay) a lower-court ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit while the appeal continues. The case is Department of State v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition.

On September 3, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered a preliminary injunction directing the Executive to obligate roughly $10.5 billion of appropriated aid funding set to expire on September 30. Of that $10.5 billion, $4 billion was proposed to be rescinded in a “special message” transmitted pursuant to the Impoundment Control Act. See 2 U. S. C. §681 <i>et seq</i>. After the District Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied stays of that order, the Government filed this application to stay the District Court’s injunction. The application for stay presented to The Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court is granted. The Government, at this early stage, has made a sufficient showing that the Impoundment Control Act precludes respondents’ suit, brought pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, to enforce the appropriations at issue here. The Government has also made a sufficient showing that mandamus relief is unavailable to respondents. And, on the record before the Court, the asserted harms to the Executive’s conduct of foreign affairs appear to outweigh the potential harm faced by respondents. This order should not be read as a final determination on the merits. The relief granted by the Court today reflects our preliminary view, consistent with the standards for interim relief. The District Court’s September 3, 2025 order granting a preliminary injunction in case Nos. 1:25–cv–400 and 1:25–cv–402 is stayed as to the funding subject to the President’s August 28 special message, pending the disposition of the Government’s appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, if such writ is timely sought. Should the petition for a writ of certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically. In the event certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court. Justice Kagan, joined by Justice Sotomayor and Justice Jackson, dissent. (Detached <a href = 'https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a269_bp7c.pdf'>Opinion</a>)

This is a temporary order about what happens while the case is decided, not a ruling on who is right. The case continues in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A269. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

• SupremeCourt.gov docket page
• The application (PDF)

Checked September 25, 2026