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The US Supreme Court has granted 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.

The White House appealed to the Supreme Court after a federal judge ordered that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called food aid, should be distributed in full to recipients by Friday.

This assistance has been left in limbo by the ongoing federal government shutdown, with the government claiming it could only afford to partially fund it.

The court's decision means £3.04bn can be temporarily withheld pending further legal hearings.

SNAP's Reach

This nutrition aid is used by tens of millions of U.S. citizens - around one in eight - and costs almost $9bn a each month.

Earlier this week, a Rhode Island judge, the presiding judge, alleged the government of withholding food aid "due to political motives" and said that without the assistance "millions of kids are immediately at risk of facing hunger".

The judge mandated the government to fund the assistance in full.

Legal Background

The Thursday ruling followed another that ordered the government to dip into contingency funds to at least partly pay for the programme for November.

This court battle was triggered after the USDA, which oversees the Snap programme, announced payments would be stopped in November due to the budget shortfall over the budget crisis.

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

High Court's Move

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson granted the stay on Friday evening, 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 longest government shutdown in American history.

Broader Impact

Government workers have been unpaid for more than a month and air travel has been disrupted as Congress members cannot reach a compromise to pass a budget.

Some states have drawn on their own financial reserves to keep Snap payments going, which are worth around six dollars to recipients via pre-loaded debit cards which can be used in food markets.

However, certain states have said they are unable to replace the money which has been lost from the U.S. treasury.