Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday paused a court-imposed midnight deadline that would have required the Trump administration to release $2 billion in frozen foreign aid, a goal that the government has claimed it is unable to meet.

On Feb. 13, Judge Ali issued an order requiring agencies to release funds for any “contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, loans or other federal foreign assistance award that was in existence as of Jan. 19,” the day before Mr. Trump took office.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court Wednesday night to lift a judge’s order requiring the federal government to pay nearly $2 billion in unpaid invoices from foreign-aid contractors in a matter of hours.