A Pair of Supreme Court Surprises

Anyone who calls the Supreme Court’s conservatives an ideological monolith isn’t paying attention. Consider a pair of decisions and dissents the Justices handed down this week.

On Wednesday a 5-4 majority denied the Trump Administration’s request (Department of State v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition) to vacate a district court order requiring the U.S. Agency for International Development to disburse $2 billion in grants pronto. Justice Samuel Alito issued a withering dissent, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.