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America's top court has issued an urgent ruling that temporarily allows the Trump administration to withhold billions of dollars for food benefits used by millions of low-income Americans.

The White House appealed to the country's highest court after a federal judge ordered that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called food aid, should be paid out completely to beneficiaries by Friday.

The programme has been left in limbo by the ongoing federal government shutdown, with the government claiming it could only pay for part of it.

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

SNAP's Reach

The Snap programme is issued by tens of millions of U.S. citizens - approximately 12% - and costs almost $9bn a month.

Earlier this week, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, accused the Trump administration of blocking nutrition funds "for political reasons" and said that without the aid "millions of kids are immediately at risk of facing hunger".

The judge mandated the government to pay out the programme in full.

Legal Background

The Thursday ruling came after that required the administration to dip into contingency funds to at least partially fund the assistance for November.

The legal saga was triggered after the USDA, which oversees the food stamp program, announced benefits would be halted in the fall due to the lack of funding over the budget crisis.

Prior to the high court's action, the Agriculture Department said it was attempting to follow with the multiple rulings and was taking steps to doll out the full funds.

Supreme Court Action

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued the stay on Friday evening, known as an temporary halt, pausing the previous decision for 48 hours while federal attorneys pursue an appeal.

This dispute over nutrition program money has become one of the bitterest of what is now the lengthiest budget standoff in US history.

Wider Effects

Federal employees have been unpaid for over 30 days and flight operations has been thrown into chaos as Congress members fail to agree a compromise to pass a budget.

Some states have drawn on their own financial reserves to keep Snap payments going, which are valued at around $6 to recipients via pre-loaded debit cards which can be redeemed in grocery stores.

But some states have said they are unable to replace the money which has been lost from the federal government.