Washington — President Trump's administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to allow it to freeze billions of dollars in foreign aid funding, seeking its intervention in a clash over the president's refusal to spend money allocated by Congress for foreign assistance programs.

The Trump administration is asking the high court to partially halt a lower court order that required it to spend more than $4 billion in aid by the end of September. Mr. Trump is attempting to claw back that money, which has already been approved by Congress, through a rarely used maneuver known as a pocket rescission.

The dispute also involves another $6.5 billion in foreign assistance, though the Justice Department has said it is taking steps to obligate those funds by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal yea

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