US Supreme Court pauses order on Trump's foreign aid funding

US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday paused a federal judge's order requiring President Donald Trump's administration to pay foreign aid funds to contractors and grant recipients.

Roberts issued an interim order placing on hold Washington-based US District Judge Amir Ali's action that had imposed a deadline of 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday night.

Roberts provided no rationale for the order, known as an administrative stay, which will give the court additional time to consider the administration's more formal request to block Ali's ruling.

Roberts asked for a response from the plaintiffs, organisations that contract with or receive grants from the US Agency for International Development and the State Department, by noon on Friday.

The order came after Trump's administration said in a court filing on Wednesday it had made final decisions terminating most US foreign aid contracts and grants, while maintaining that it cannot meet Ali's court-ordered deadline.

The administration is cutting more than 90 per cent of the US Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and over $58 billion (AED 213 billion) in overall US assistance around the world, a State Department spokesperson said separately, calling the cuts part of Trump's "America First agenda."

The foreign aid funding dispute arose from a pair of lawsuits brought by the aid organisations, alleging that the agencies have illegally frozen all foreign aid payments.

The Trump administration has kept those payments largely frozen despite a February 13 temporary restraining order from Ali that they be released, and multiple subsequent orders that the administration comply, culminating in the Wednesday night deadline.

Lawyers for the US Justice Department have maintained that the administration has a right to suspend its agreements while it reviews them to determine whether they comply with administration policy.

That review is now complete, the administration said in its new filing. It said USAID has made final decisions to cancel nearly 5,800 awards, while keeping more than 500, and that the State Department has canceled about 4,100 awards, while keeping about 2,700.

An administration official said in an earlier court filing that grounds for terminating contracts include that they were related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts, or were deemed wasteful.