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 on Wednesday paused a court-imposed midnight deadline that would have required the Trump administration to release $2 billion in frozen foreign aid, a goal that the government has claimed it is unable to meet.

President Donald Trump's administration said in a court filing on Wednesday it has made final decisions terminating most U.S. foreign aid contracts and grants, while maintaining that it cannot meet a court-ordered 11:59 p.