Lawyers for the government had said it would miss a deadline to release more than $1.5 billion in payments for past aid work and sought a late intervention from the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice John Roberts placed an administrative stay on a court order that would permit USAID to send out billions of dollars in foreign aid.

The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to cancel a lower court order for the government to immediately pay out nearly $2 billion in foreign assistance grant money.