Chief justice orders delay in House fight for Trump records

Chief Justice John Roberts is ordering an indefinite delay in the House of Representatives' demand for President Donald Trump's financial records.

Roberts' order Monday contains no hint about how the Supreme Court ultimately will resolve the dispute.

It follows a filing by the House earlier Monday in which the House agreed to a brief halt for the orderly filing of legal briefs, while opposing any lengthy delay.

Those written arguments will allow the justices to decide whether they will jump into the tussle between Congress and the president.

Last week, Trump made an emergency appeal to ask the justices to block the enforcement of a subpoena issued by a House committee to Trump's accountants. The House has until Thursday to respond, Roberts said.

The high court has a separate pending request from Trump to block a subpoena from a New York prosecutor for Trump's tax returns.

The justices next meet in private on Friday and could discuss what to do with the House subpoena. Without some intervention by the high court, a ruling by the federal appeals court in Washington, DC, in favour of the House was set to take effect Wednesday. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform would have been able to try to enforce the subpoena to the Mazars USA accounting firm.