By John Kruzel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to intervene in its bid to withhold billions of dollars in foreign aid authorized by Congress, part of the Republican president’s effort to scale back U.S. assistance abroad.

The Justice Department asked the court to halt Washington-based U.S. District Judge Amir Ali’s order requiring administration officials to take steps to spend around $4 billion that they have sought to claw back.

The money at issue in the case was intended by Congress for foreign aid, United Nations peacekeeping operations and democracy-promotion efforts overseas.

The Justice Department said in its filing that the administration views the $4 billion of disputed foreign aid funding as “contrary to U.

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