Washington(CNN) The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block the release of documents from former special counsel Robert Mueller's grand jury to the House of Representatives.
The administration is asking the justices to freeze a lower court opinion that cleared the way for the release of the grand jury secrets to the House.
The court ruled in March that the House Judiciary Committee has a "compelling need" to view the secretive details prosecutors had collected from witnesses and about President Donald Trump.
"The government respectfully requests that this Court grant a stay of the court of appeals' mandate," solicitor general Noel Francisco wrote.
Francisco also asked the justices to block a lower court's May 11 deadline for the release of the documents to give the parties more time to file court papers.
The Justice Department notified the court that while the House is expected to oppose the administration's request to block the release of the documents, it does support moving the current May 11 deadline by seven days out of respect for the court's schedule.
The administration had said last month that it planned to make the request to the high court. Should the nine justices decide they want to hear the case, it could be months before it's resolved.
This story is breaking and will be updated.