Supreme Court Decides Complete Snap Food Benefits Can Be Paused for Now.
The US Supreme Court has issued an urgent ruling that permits for now the Trump administration to withhold billions in funding for nutrition assistance used by millions of low-income Americans.
Administration officials sought relief from the country's highest court after a federal judge ordered 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 left in limbo by the continuing budget impasse, with the Trump administration claiming it could only pay for part of it.
Friday's ruling means £3.04bn can be temporarily withheld until more court proceedings.
Programme Impact
The Snap programme is issued by 42 million Americans - approximately 12% - and requires almost $9bn a each month.
On Thursday, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, accused the government of withholding food aid "for political reasons" and said that without the assistance "millions of kids are in danger of going hungry".
He ordered the government to pay out the assistance in full.
Court Proceedings
This decision followed another that required the administration to dip into reserve money to at least partially fund the assistance for last month.
This court battle was spurred after the US Department of Agriculture, which manages the food stamp program, announced benefits would be halted in November due to the budget shortfall over the budget crisis.
Prior to the high court's action, the USDA said it was attempting to follow with the various court orders and was taking steps to doll out the complete amount.
Supreme Court Action
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued the stay late Friday, called an temporary halt, effectively freezing the previous decision for 48 hours while government lawyer's pursue an appeal.
This dispute over food aid funding has become one of the bitterest of what is now the lengthiest budget standoff in American history.
Wider Effects
Government workers have been without pay for over 30 days and flight operations has been thrown into chaos as Congress members fail to agree a deal to pass a budget.
Some states have used their own budget savings to keep Snap payments going, which are valued at around $6 to users via pre-loaded debit cards which can be redeemed in grocery stores.
But some states have said they are cannot cover the money which has been lost from the U.S. treasury.
