🔗 Share this article The Highest Court Decides Complete Snap Food Aid Can Be Put on Hold. The US Supreme Court has issued an emergency order that permits for now the federal government to withhold billions in funding for food benefits relied on by countless needy U.S. residents. Administration officials appealed to the country's highest court after a lower court ordered that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food aid, should be distributed in full to recipients by the end of the week. The programme has been caught in uncertainty by the continuing budget impasse, with the Trump administration arguing it could only pay for part of it. Friday's ruling means $4bn can be temporarily withheld until more court proceedings. SNAP's Reach This nutrition aid is issued by tens of millions of U.S. citizens - approximately 12% - and costs almost £6.9bn a month. On Thursday, a Rhode Island judge, the presiding judge, alleged the government of blocking nutrition funds "due to political motives" and said that without the aid "16 million children are in danger of going hungry". He ordered the administration to pay out the programme in full. Court Proceedings The Thursday ruling followed another that ordered the administration to dip into contingency funds to at least partially fund the programme for November. The legal saga was spurred after the USDA, which oversees the Snap programme, announced benefits would be stopped in the fall due to the lack of funding over the shutdown. Prior to the high court's action, the Agriculture Department said it was working to comply with the multiple rulings and was taking steps to doll out the complete amount. Supreme Court Action Supreme Court Justice Justice Jackson granted the order on Friday evening, known as an temporary halt, effectively freezing the previous decision for 48 hours while government lawyer's seek to overturn it. This dispute over nutrition program money has become among the most contentious of what is now the longest government shutdown in US history. Broader Impact Government workers have been without pay for over 30 days and air travel has been disrupted as Congress members fail to agree a deal to fund the government. Several states have drawn on their own financial reserves to keep Snap payments flowing, which are valued at around $6 to users via pre-loaded debit cards which can be redeemed in food markets. But some states have said they are cannot cover the funding which has been cut by the federal government.