The Trump administration on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to withhold billions of U.S. dollars in foreign aid, challenging a federal court injunction that forces the government to continue payments.

The U.S. Justice Department filed an emergency appeal, noting that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled to overturn the injunction earlier this month.

However, the injunction remains in effect, as the full federal appeals court declined to pause it last week. It ordered the Trump administration to pay nearly $2 billion in outstanding aid to foreign aid contractors worldwide.

In March, the Supreme Court declined to let the administration avoid making these payments. The Trump administration is now pressing for a definitive ruling, arguing that without the justices' intervention, it would be forced to make payments, which would override executive foreign-policy decisions.

U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 90-day pause on all foreign aid on January 20, and has since moved to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development while exploring bringing the agency under the State Department.

(With input from Xinhua)