Supreme Court Decides Complete Snap Food Benefits Can Be Put on Hold.

The US Supreme Court has issued an urgent ruling that permits for now the Trump administration to withhold billions in funding for nutrition assistance used by countless needy U.S. residents.

The White House appealed to the country's highest court after a federal judge ruled that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food aid, should be paid out completely to recipients by Friday.

This assistance has been left in limbo by the continuing budget impasse, with the Trump administration arguing it could only afford to partially fund it.

Friday's ruling means £3.04bn can be held back for now until more court proceedings.

Programme Impact

This nutrition aid is used by 42 million Americans - approximately 12% - and requires almost £6.9bn a each month.

On Thursday, a federal magistrate, the presiding judge, alleged the Trump administration of blocking nutrition funds "for political reasons" and said that without the assistance "16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry".

The judge mandated the government to fund the programme completely.

Court Proceedings

The Thursday ruling followed another that required the administration to dip into reserve money to at least partly pay for the assistance for November.

The legal saga was spurred after the US Department of Agriculture, which manages the food stamp program, announced payments would be halted in November due to the lack of funding over the budget crisis.

Before the Supreme Court stepped in, the Agriculture Department said it was working to comply with the multiple rulings and was making efforts to distribute the complete amount.

Supreme Court Action

High Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson granted the order on Friday evening, called an administrative stay, pausing the previous decision for two days while government lawyer's pursue an appeal.

This dispute over food aid funding has become among the most contentious of what is now the longest government shutdown in US history.

Broader Impact

Government workers have been without pay for more than a month and air travel has been thrown into chaos as Democratic and Republican lawmakers fail to agree a deal to fund the government.

Some states have drawn on their own budget savings to keep food benefits flowing, which are valued at around six dollars to recipients via pre-loaded debit cards which can be redeemed in food markets.

But some states have said they are unable to replace the money which has been cut by the U.S. treasury.