A federal appeals court declined on Thursday to stop the Trump administration from withholding billions of dollars set aside by Congress for foreign aid.

The decision by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit not to hear the case and potentially flip an earlier ruling by three of its judges was a technical-sounding step in a case with major constitutional implications. It appeared to render moot, for now, an emergency request the administration made to the Supreme Court this week, asking that the justices affirm President Trump’s authority to keep the funds frozen.

The decision handed a temporary victory to the administration, which has argued since the start of Mr. Trump’s second term that it can refuse to spend funds appropriated by Congress on causes it deems wasteful or against the national interest. That philosophy has been a key component of Mr. Trump’s moves to seize control of the executive branch and claim broad powers for himself that Congress has traditionally held.

But the appeals court nonetheless left open a narrow window on Thursday for the coalition of aid groups that sued over the frozen funding in February. The court released a revised version of the order its three-judge panel issued earlier this month that no longer fully foreclosed lawsuits by outside groups over the withholding of the funds.

The three-judge panel that issued the order two weeks ago found that the groups could not sue the government over its use of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, and that only the Government Accountability Office, which serves as Congress’s independent watchdog, could pursue that claim. The revised order on Thursday maintained that position.

The panel’s opinion, written by Judge Karen L. Henderson, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush, and joined by Judge Gregory G. Katsas, a Trump appointee, appeared to preclude any challenge brought by foreign aid organizations, which have fought for seven months to make the funds available as originally envisioned by Congress.