WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily maintained the Trump administration’s decision to suspend nearly $5 billion in foreign aid.

Roberts responded to the administration’s emergency appeal to the Supreme Court concerning billions in congressionally sanctioned aid. Last month, President Donald Trump announced he wouldn’t distribute the funds, invoking a contentious authority last utilized by a president almost five decades ago.

The Supreme Court’s order is provisional, indicating that justices might overturn a lower court’s decision deeming the funding freeze likely unlawful. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled last week that Congress must sanction any decision to withhold such funding.

The Supreme Court case will continue unfolding, and Roberts asked the plaintiffs to respond to the Trump administration’s appeal on Friday.

In a letter on Aug. 28 addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Trump communicated his intention not to allocate $4.9 billion in approved foreign aid, effectively reducing the budget without legislative approval.

This action involves a “pocket rescission,” where a president sends a belated request to Congress not to use the allocated funds near the end of a fiscal year. This timing prevents Congress from acting within the 45-day window, leaving the money unused.

The Trump administration has prioritized significant cuts to foreign aid despite minimal savings compared to the deficit and potential damage to America’s international standing as foreign communities face limited access to food and development initiatives. After a panel of federal appellate judges refused to stay Ali’s ruling, the administration sought recourse from the Supreme Court.

Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge last month that another $6.5 billion in aid that had been subject to the freeze would be spent before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

The case has been winding its way through the courts for months, and Ali said he understood that his ruling would not be the last word on the matter.

“This case raises questions of immense legal and practical importance, including whether there is any avenue to test the executive branch’s decision not to spend congressionally appropriated funds,” he wrote.

In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out an earlier injunction Ali had issued to require that the money be spent. But the three-judge panel did not shut down the lawsuit.

After Trump issued his rescission notice, the plaintiffs returned to Ali’s court and the judge issued the order that’s now being challenged.