Officials had argued that they could not process the payments within the timeframe set by a lower court judge.
Since taking power in January, US President Donald Trump has swiftly acted to end many aid programmes, mainly run by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and placed most of its staff on administrative leave or dismissed them.
The Trump administration aims to shrink the federal workforce and save costs, a drive led by Elon Musk. The billionaire Trump adviser asked millions of bureaucrats over the weekend to list their accomplishments over the past week, sparking anger among the workforce and disagreements with officials leading the departments.
US District Judge Amir Ali had ordered the US State Department and USAID to pay approximately $2 billion worth of bills (£1.6bn) to contractors by Wednesday midnight. This is one of many interventions by judges attempting to stop or pause a wave of Trump administration orders.
As the deadline approached, the Trump administration went to the Supreme Court, claiming it was impossible to process claims in an orderly fashion within such a short period.
The US federal government freeze comes as the
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgwwp2gd3jo
