The Highest Court Decides Full Snap Food Aid Can Be Paused for Now.
America's top court has issued an emergency order that permits for now the federal government to withhold billions of dollars for nutrition assistance used by millions of low-income Americans.
Administration officials appealed to the Supreme Court after a lower court ordered that the SNAP program, also known as food aid, should be distributed in full to beneficiaries 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.
Friday's ruling means $4bn can be held back for now until more court proceedings.
SNAP's Reach
The Snap programme is used by tens of millions of U.S. citizens - approximately 12% - and costs almost Β£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 aid "16 million children are immediately at risk of facing hunger".
He ordered the government to fund the assistance completely.
Legal Background
The Thursday ruling followed another that required the government to use reserve money to at least partly pay for the assistance for November.
This court battle was triggered after the US Department of Agriculture, which manages the Snap programme, announced payments would be stopped in November due to the lack of funding over the budget crisis.
Before the Supreme Court stepped in, the USDA said it was attempting to follow with the multiple rulings and was taking steps to distribute the complete amount.
High Court's Move
Supreme Court Justice Justice Jackson granted the order late Friday, called an administrative stay, pausing the lower court's ruling for two days while federal attorneys pursue an appeal.
This dispute over food aid funding has become one of the bitterest of what is now the longest government shutdown in American history.
Wider Effects
Government workers have been unpaid for more than a month and flight operations has been thrown into chaos as Congress members cannot reach a deal to fund the government.
Some states have drawn on their own budget savings to keep Snap payments going, which are valued at around six dollars to users via pre-loaded debit cards which can be redeemed in food markets.
However, certain states have said they are unable to replace the money which has been lost from the federal government.
