US Supreme Court
For the first time in more than a month, officials at the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) saw a glimmer of hope in being able to use already-approved US Agency for International Development (USAID) funding for WOCCU’s credit union projects overseas. That hope came in the form of a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that rejected the Trump administration’s request to keep nearly $2 billion of funding frozen that had been approved by Congress.
The high court did not indicate when the funds will be released. Instead, the justices are leaving that decision up to the lower courts. This will allow the Trump administration to continue disputing the issue and therefore the funds could remain in limbo for an extended period.
Alas, WOCCU President/CEO Elissa McCarter LaBorde welcomed the ruling in a statement to CU Times Wednesday afternoon. McCarter LaBorde said WOCCU “applauds the Supreme Court’s March 5 ruling and looks forward to seeing the district court approve a timeline for payments that results in the quick and orderly distribution of funds for work done prior to the freeze on aid.”
Last month when the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) locked USAID offices to employees and President Donald Trump ordered the freeze on foreign aid, McCarter LaBorde sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking him to honor “existing obligations of funding” while the government reviews all foreign aid programs.
Since that time, funding for crucial credit union projects have been suspended. Those projects include:
- The USAID GROW Project in Ukraine;
- The USAID Economic Inclusion Project (EIP) in Peru and Ecuador; and
- The USAID Cooperative Development Program’s (CDP) Accelerating Growth and Inclusion in Lending for Credit Unions (AGIL4CU) Project in Burkina Faso, Guatemala, Kenya and Senegal.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
