🔗 Share this article

America's top court has granted an urgent ruling that temporarily allows the federal government to withhold billions of dollars for nutrition assistance relied on by countless needy U.S. residents.

Administration officials appealed to the Supreme Court after a federal judge ordered that the SNAP program, called food aid, should be distributed completely to beneficiaries by the end of the week.

The programme has been caught in uncertainty by the continuing budget impasse, with the government claiming it could only pay for part of it.

The court's decision means $4bn can be held back for now pending further legal hearings.

SNAP's Reach

This nutrition aid is used by 42 million Americans - around one in eight - and requires almost $9bn a month.

Earlier this week, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, accused the government of withholding food aid "for political reasons" and said that without the aid "16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry".

He ordered the administration to pay out the programme completely.

Legal Background

The Thursday ruling followed another that required the government to dip into reserve money to at least partially fund the programme for November.

This court battle was triggered after the US Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food stamp program, announced payments would be stopped in November due to the lack of funding over the shutdown.

Prior to the high court's action, the USDA said it was attempting to follow with the various court orders and was making efforts to distribute the complete amount.

High Court's Move

High Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson issued the stay on Friday evening, known as an temporary halt, pausing the lower court's ruling for 48 hours while federal attorneys seek to overturn it.

The row over food aid funding has become among the most contentious of what is now the lengthiest budget standoff in American history.

Wider Effects

Federal employees have been without pay for over 30 days and flight operations has been thrown into chaos as Congress members cannot reach a deal to fund the government.

Some states have used their own budget savings to keep Snap payments flowing, which are valued at 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 funding which has been lost from the federal government.