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America's top court has granted an emergency order that temporarily allows the Trump administration to withhold billions in funding for food benefits relied on by millions of low-income Americans.

The White House sought relief from the country's highest court after a lower court ruled that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, should be distributed completely to recipients by the end of the week.

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.

Friday's ruling means $4bn can be temporarily withheld pending further legal hearings.

Programme Impact

The Snap programme is issued by 42 million Americans - around one in eight - and costs almost £6.9bn a each month.

On Thursday, a federal magistrate, the presiding judge, alleged the Trump administration of withholding food aid "for political reasons" and said that without the aid "16 million children are in danger of facing hunger".

He ordered the administration to pay out the assistance in full.

Court Proceedings

The Thursday ruling followed another that required the government to use contingency funds to at least partially fund the assistance for last month.

This court battle was triggered after the USDA, which oversees the Snap programme, stated benefits would be stopped in the fall 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 multiple rulings and was making efforts to doll out the full funds.

Supreme Court Action

High Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson issued the stay late Friday, called an administrative stay, pausing the previous decision for 48 hours while federal attorneys pursue an appeal.

The row over nutrition program money has become one of the bitterest of what is now the longest government shutdown in American history.

Broader Impact

Federal employees have been without pay for more than a month and air travel has been thrown into chaos as Democratic and Republican lawmakers cannot reach a compromise to pass a budget.

Some states have drawn on their own financial reserves to keep Snap payments flowing, which are worth around six dollars to recipients via electronic benefit cards which can be used in grocery stores.

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