The Highest Court Decides Complete Snap Food Benefits Can Be Temporarily Halted.
The US Supreme Court has granted an emergency order that permits for now the federal government to withhold billions in funding for food benefits used by countless needy U.S. residents.
The White House appealed to the country's highest court after a lower court ruled that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food aid, should be paid out in full to recipients by Friday.
This assistance has been caught in uncertainty by the ongoing federal government shutdown, with the Trump administration arguing it could only afford to partially fund it.
Friday's ruling means £3.04bn can be held back for now pending further legal hearings.
SNAP's Reach
The Snap programme is used by tens of millions of U.S. citizens - approximately 12% - and costs almost £6.9bn a month.
Earlier this week, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, alleged the Trump administration of blocking nutrition funds "for political reasons" and said that without the assistance "16 million children are in danger of facing hunger".
The judge mandated the administration to pay out the assistance completely.
Legal Background
The Thursday ruling came after that ordered the government to use reserve money to at least partially fund the assistance for last month.
The legal saga was triggered after the USDA, which manages the Snap programme, stated benefits would be halted in November due to the budget shortfall over the shutdown.
Before the Supreme Court stepped in, the Agriculture Department said it was attempting to follow with the multiple rulings and was making efforts to doll out the complete amount.
High Court's Move
High Court Judge Justice Jackson issued the stay late Friday, known as an administrative stay, pausing the lower court's ruling for 48 hours while government lawyer's pursue an appeal.
This dispute over nutrition program money has become among the most contentious of what is now the lengthiest budget standoff in US history.
Wider Effects
Federal employees have been unpaid for over 30 days and air travel 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 food benefits going, which are valued at around six dollars to users via electronic benefit cards which can be used in grocery stores.
But some states have said they are unable to replace the funding which has been lost from the U.S. treasury.
