The US Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that President Donald Trump's administration cannot stop payments to foreign aid organizations for work they have already completed for the government.
The court supported US District Judge Amir Ali's decision, which ordered the Trump administration to quickly release funding to contractors and grant recipients from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department for their past work, reports Deutsche Welle.
Ali had ordered the US State Department and USAID to pay nearly $2 billion to contractors by midnight on Wednesday last week.
The Trump administration turned to the Supreme Court as the deadline approached. They argued that handling claims properly in such a short time was impossible.
By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court told Ali to "clarify what obligations the government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines."
The court's decision, however, keeps Ali's temporary restraining order in place, which stopped the spending freeze.
