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America's top court has issued an urgent ruling that permits for now the federal government to delay billions of dollars for nutrition assistance used by millions of low-income Americans.

Administration officials sought relief from the Supreme Court after a lower court ruled that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food aid, should be paid out in full to recipients 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 £3.04bn can be temporarily withheld 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.

Earlier this week, a Rhode Island judge, John McConnell, accused the government of blocking nutrition funds "for political reasons" and said that without the assistance "16 million children are in danger of facing hunger".

He ordered the government to pay out the assistance in full.

Court Proceedings

This decision followed another that ordered the government to dip into contingency funds to at least partly pay for the programme for November.

This court battle was triggered after the USDA, which manages the Snap programme, stated payments would be stopped in the fall due to the lack of funding over the budget crisis.

Prior to the high court's action, the USDA said it was working to comply with the multiple rulings and was making efforts to distribute the full funds.

Supreme Court Action

High Court Judge Justice Jackson issued the order on Friday evening, called an temporary halt, effectively freezing the lower court's ruling for two days while federal attorneys pursue an appeal.

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 cannot reach a compromise to fund the government.

Several states have used their own budget savings to keep food benefits going, which are worth around six dollars to users via electronic benefit cards which can be redeemed in grocery stores.

But some states have said they are cannot cover the funding which has been cut by the U.S. treasury.