Chief Justice John Roberts paused a lower-court order Wednesday requiring the Trump administration to pay $2 billion in frozen foreign aid before the midnight deadline.

“The ruling comes after the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order to block the release of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funding, which the federal judge had required by midnight. Officials had said they would not be able to comply with the judge’s order,” noted Fox News.

“The Trump administration said U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali’s order had created ‘an untenable payment plan at odds with the President’s obligations under Article II to protect the integrity of the federal fisc and make appropriate judgements(sic) about foreign aid – clear forms of irreparable harm,” it added.

Groups suing the Trump administration will be required to issue a response before Friday at 12 p.m.

“Roberts’ order does not resolve the underlying questions raised by the case. Rather, it imposed what’s known as an ‘administrative stay’ to give the court a few days to review written arguments in the case,” noted CNN. “Roberts is the justice designated to handle emergency cases from the federal appeals court in Washington, DC.”

“At issue in the latest appeal is billions of dollars in foreign aid from the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development that Trump froze in January as he sought to clamp down federal spending and bring it more in line with his policy positions,” CNN added.

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.