The Highest Court Rules Full Snap Food Aid Can Be Paused for Now.
America's top court has granted an emergency order that temporarily allows the Trump administration to withhold billions of dollars for food benefits relied on by countless needy U.S. residents.
Administration officials sought relief from the country's highest court after a lower court ruled that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called food stamps, should be distributed completely to beneficiaries by Friday.
This assistance has been left in limbo by the ongoing federal government shutdown, 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.
Programme Impact
This nutrition aid is used by 42 million Americans - approximately 12% - and requires almost $9bn a month.
On Thursday, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, accused the Trump administration of blocking nutrition funds "for political reasons" and said that without the aid "16 million children are in danger of facing hunger".
The judge mandated the administration to pay out the assistance in full.
Legal Background
This decision followed another that ordered the government to use reserve money to at least partially fund the programme for last month.
The legal saga was spurred after the US Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food stamp program, announced payments would be stopped in the fall due to the lack of funding over the budget crisis.
Before the Supreme Court stepped in, the Agriculture Department said it was working to comply with the multiple rulings and was making efforts to doll out the full funds.
High Court's Move
Supreme Court Justice Justice Jackson granted the stay late Friday, known as an administrative stay, pausing the lower court's ruling for 48 hours while federal attorneys 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 American history.
Wider Effects
Federal employees have been without pay for over 30 days and flight operations has been disrupted as Democratic and Republican lawmakers fail to agree a compromise to fund the government.
Several states have used their own financial reserves to keep Snap payments flowing, which are valued at around $6 to users via electronic benefit cards which can be used in food markets.
But some states have said they are cannot cover the funding which has been cut by the U.S. treasury.
