Global health and AIDS prevention groups told the Supreme Court on Friday that it should not reverse a federal court order that protects them from “financial turmoil” from the Trump administration’s freeze on funding from the U.S. Agency for Development.

The groups said the Trump administration rushed to the nation’s highest court to overturn the temporary block, noting that the district court said the freeze on USAID funding was likely unlawful and could not continue while litigation continues.

They said the order merely preserves the status quo, but the administration has refused to comply.

“The government comes to this court with an emergency of its own making,” lawyers for the health organizations argued. “By forcing thousands of American businesses and nonprofits to suspend their work, and by halting disbursements for work that they had already performed, even work that already had been reviewed by the government and cleared for payment, the government plunged respondents into financial turmoil.”

The dispute arose after President Trump late Wednesday won a temporary reprieve from the Supreme Court Court, blocking the lower-court order that his administration pay nearly $2 billion in foreign assistance grant money by midnight that day.

The Department of Justice had sought a delay, saying the deadline imposed by U.S. District Judge Amir Ali was impossible to meet and trampled on the president’s powers.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. granted the delay and asked for more briefing on the matter by the end of the week.

The legal conflict arose after Mr. Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order that called for a large freeze of foreign-assistance money from USAID. He said he wanted to conduct a review to ensure the money aligned with his goals.

Judge Ali, a Biden appointee, issued on Feb. 13 a temporary restraining order halting the pause. After more back-and-forth, Judge Ali ruled Tuesday that the federal government was still recalcitrant in releasing the money and ordered it out the door by the end of Wednesday.

That money was to cover obligations that were already in place before the State Department carried out Mr. Trump’s freeze on funding.

The Trump administration has argued the order interferes with the president’s right to scrutinize the payments before sending out the funds.

“As a result, the government faces the possibility of being forced to expend enormous sums of taxpayer dollars without knowing whether those payments are for legitimate expenses,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris argued for the government.

• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.