Last month saw U.S. District Judge Amir Ali give the Trump administration a deadline of February 26 to pay foreign aid groups and contractors the nearly $2 billion it had previously frozen.

While the Supreme Court placed a temporary restraining order on Ali's ruling last week, the order has since been halted. 

Case has been sent back to district court judge

According to Fox News, that move came in a decision on Wednesday which saw Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett side with the Supreme Court's left-leaning members.

In its five to four ruling, America's highest judicial body observed that the original February 26 deadline had already passed before sending the case back to Ali.

The Biden-appointed judge was further instructed to provide clarity regarding additional details on a payment schedule for the Trump administration.

However, the majority's opinion was met with a sharply worded dissent from Justice Samuel Alito, which was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh.

Dissent says Ali's original payment deadline was "too extreme a response"

"Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) 2 billion taxpayer dollars?" Alito demanded.

Conservative justices 'stunned' by Supreme Court's USAID decision, lambaste majority in scathing dissent https://t.co/zswuV1oVgK

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"The answer to that question should be an emphatic ‘No,’ but a majority of this Court apparently thinks otherwise," the Republican appointee continued before adding that he was "stunned" by Wednesday's ruling.

Fox News noted how Alito and the other dissenting justices were willing to concede that the contractors and nonprofit groups raised "serious concerns about nonpayment" for work they have already completed.

Nevertheless, he maintained that the payment time frame contained within Ali's order was "too extreme a response" as it only provided the Trump administration with two weeks to comply.

Ali scheduled a new hearing to take place on Thursday afternoon

Fox News pointed out that those words echoed concerns which were previously raised by acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris.

Like Alito, Harris acknowledged that the contractor's claims were "legitimate" but went on to describe Ali's deadline as being "impossible" to meet as well as "not logistically or technically feasible."

For his part, Ali reacted to the Supreme Court's ruling by quickly scheduling a new hearing for Thursday afternoon to address the matter.