The Highest Court Rules Full Snap Food Benefits Can Be Paused for Now.
America's top court has granted an emergency order that temporarily allows the federal government to withhold billions of dollars for food benefits relied on by millions of low-income Americans.
The White House appealed to the country's highest court after a lower court ordered that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called food stamps, should be paid out 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.
The court's decision means £3.04bn can be held back for now until more court proceedings.
Programme Impact
This nutrition aid is used by tens of millions of U.S. citizens - approximately 12% - and costs almost £6.9bn a each 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 "millions of kids are in danger of facing hunger".
The judge mandated the administration to pay out the programme in full.
Court Proceedings
The Thursday ruling came after that ordered the government to dip into contingency funds to at least partly pay for the assistance for last month.
This court battle was spurred after the USDA, which oversees the Snap programme, stated benefits would be stopped in the fall due to the budget shortfall over the budget crisis.
Before the Supreme Court stepped in, the Agriculture Department said it was attempting to follow with the various court orders and was taking steps to distribute the full funds.
High Court's Move
Supreme Court Justice Justice Jackson granted the order late Friday, called an administrative stay, effectively freezing the previous decision for two days while government lawyer's pursue an appeal.
This dispute over food aid funding has become one of the bitterest of what is now the longest government shutdown in American history.
Broader Impact
Federal employees have been unpaid for over 30 days and air travel has been disrupted as Democratic and Republican lawmakers cannot reach a compromise to fund the government.
Several states have used their own financial reserves to keep food benefits flowing, which are worth around six dollars to recipients via electronic benefit cards which can be redeemed in food markets.
But some states have said they are cannot cover the money which has been lost from the U.S. treasury.
