A federal appeals court has handed the government a victory by temporarily blocking a judge's finding that Congress shouldn't have halted federal funding to the activist group ACORN.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued the order Wednesday, a day after the government lawyer argued the stay of the ruling was necessary.

The government had argued that it was necessary to block the ruling to ensure that federal agencies were not required to commit funds that have not been appropriated by Congress.

A lawyer for ACORN says it may appeal the decision to the Supreme Court because the cutoff of funds is crippling ACORN and jeopardizing housing for poor people.