Argentina could be in trouble with a New York judge who wants to know why the government of President Cristina Fernandez shouldn't immediately face the consequences of its losing fight over defaulted debt.

Argentina still has a slim hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will accept its appeal, and the lower courts have stayed their rulings that the government must pay about $1.4 billion to make good on bond debts unpaid since the country's 2001 economic crisis.