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

The White House appealed to the Supreme Court after a lower court ruled that the SNAP program, also known as food stamps, should be distributed completely to recipients by the end of the week.

This assistance has been caught in uncertainty by the ongoing federal government shutdown, with the Trump administration claiming it could only afford to partially fund it.

Friday's ruling means £3.04bn can be held back for now until more court proceedings.

Programme Impact

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

On Thursday, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, alleged the Trump administration of blocking nutrition funds "due to political motives" and said that without the aid "16 million children are in danger of going hungry".

The judge mandated the administration to pay out the programme in full.

Court Proceedings

This decision followed another that required the administration to use reserve money to at least partially fund the programme for November.

The legal saga was spurred after the USDA, which manages the food stamp program, announced payments 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 attempting to follow with the multiple rulings and was making efforts to doll out the full funds.

Supreme Court Action

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson granted the stay late Friday, called an temporary halt, pausing the lower court's ruling for 48 hours while federal attorneys seek to overturn it.

The row 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 without pay for more than a month and air travel has been disrupted as Democratic and Republican lawmakers fail to agree a deal to pass a budget.

Several states have used their own financial reserves to keep food benefits flowing, which are valued at around six dollars to users via pre-loaded debit cards which can be redeemed in grocery stores.

But some states have said they are cannot cover the funding which has been lost from the federal government.