By Brendan Pierson and John Kruzel (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday paused a federal judge's order requiring President Donald Trump's administration to pay foreign aid funds to contractors and grant recipients.

A federal judge had set a deadline for the administration to lift its funding freeze at USAID. The order by Chief Justice John Roberts puts that on hold.

Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily let President Donald Trump keep freezing foreign-aid payments while the US Supreme Court weighs whether to lift an order that would require disbursement of as much as $2 billion.