Supreme Court Decides Full Snap Food Aid Can Be Put on Hold.

The US Supreme Court has granted an emergency order that permits for now the Trump administration to withhold billions in funding for food benefits used by millions of low-income Americans.

Administration officials sought relief from the Supreme Court after a lower court ordered that the SNAP program, also known as food aid, should be distributed completely to beneficiaries by the end of the week.

The programme 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 temporarily withheld until more court proceedings.

Programme Impact

The Snap programme is issued by 42 million Americans - approximately 12% - and requires almost £6.9bn a month.

Earlier this week, a federal magistrate, the presiding judge, alleged the Trump administration of blocking nutrition funds "due to political motives" and said that without the aid "millions of kids are in danger of going hungry".

The judge mandated the administration to pay out the assistance completely.

Legal Background

This decision followed another that required the government to use reserve money to at least partially fund the programme for November.

The legal saga was spurred after the US Department of Agriculture, which manages the Snap programme, announced payments would be stopped in November due to the budget shortfall over the budget crisis.

Before the Supreme Court stepped in, the Agriculture Department said it was working to comply with the various court orders and was taking steps to doll out the complete amount.

Supreme Court Action

High Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson issued the stay on Friday evening, known as an administrative stay, effectively freezing the lower court's ruling for two days while federal attorneys seek to overturn it.

The row over food aid funding has become one of the bitterest of what is now the longest government shutdown in US history.

Broader Impact

Federal employees have been without pay for more than a month and flight operations has been disrupted as Congress members fail to agree a deal to fund the government.

Several states have drawn on their own budget savings to keep Snap payments flowing, which are valued at around $6 to users via electronic benefit cards which can be used in grocery stores.

However, certain states have said they are cannot cover the money which has been cut by the U.S. treasury.