The Highest Court Decides Full Snap Food Benefits Can Be Put on Hold.
America's top court has granted an urgent ruling that permits for now the federal government to delay billions in funding for nutrition assistance relied on by millions of low-income Americans.
The White House sought relief from the Supreme Court after a federal judge ordered that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called food aid, should be distributed completely to recipients by the end of the week.
The programme has been caught in uncertainty by the ongoing federal government shutdown, with the government arguing it could only pay for part of it.
The court's decision means $4bn can be temporarily withheld until more court proceedings.
SNAP's Reach
The Snap programme is used by tens of millions of U.S. citizens - around one in eight - and costs almost £6.9bn a month.
On Thursday, a Rhode Island judge, John McConnell, alleged the Trump administration of withholding food aid "due to political motives" and said that without the assistance "millions of kids are in danger of going hungry".
The judge mandated the administration to pay out the programme in full.
Legal Background
The Thursday ruling followed another that required the government to dip into reserve money to at least partly pay for the assistance for last month.
The legal saga was triggered after the USDA, which oversees the food stamp program, announced benefits would be halted in November due to the budget shortfall over the shutdown.
Prior to the high court's action, the USDA said it was working to comply with the multiple rulings and was making efforts to distribute the full funds.
Supreme Court Action
High Court Judge Justice Jackson issued the stay on Friday evening, called an administrative stay, pausing the previous decision for 48 hours while government lawyer's pursue an appeal.
This dispute over nutrition program money has become one of the bitterest of what is now the longest government shutdown in American history.
Wider Effects
Federal employees have been without pay for more than a month and air travel has been thrown into chaos as Congress members fail to agree a compromise to pass a budget.
Some states have drawn on their own budget savings to keep food benefits going, which are worth around six dollars to recipients via pre-loaded debit cards which can be used in grocery stores.
But some states have said they are cannot cover the funding which has been cut by the U.S. treasury.
