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The US Supreme Court has granted an urgent ruling that permits for now 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 Supreme Court after a lower court ordered that the SNAP program, called food aid, should be paid out in full to recipients by the end of the week.

The programme has been left in limbo by the ongoing federal government shutdown, with the government claiming it could only afford to partially fund it.

Friday's ruling means £3.04bn can be temporarily withheld pending further legal hearings.

SNAP's Reach

This nutrition aid is issued by 42 million Americans - around one in eight - and requires almost £6.9bn a each month.

Earlier this week, a Rhode Island judge, John McConnell, alleged the Trump administration of blocking nutrition funds "due to political motives" and said that without the assistance "16 million children are in danger of facing hunger".

He ordered the administration to fund the assistance in full.

Legal Background

The Thursday ruling came after that required the government to dip into reserve money to at least partly pay for the programme for last month.

The legal saga was spurred after the US Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Snap programme, announced payments would be halted in November due to the lack of funding over the shutdown.

Prior to the high court's action, the Agriculture Department said it was working to comply with the various court orders and was making efforts to doll out the complete amount.

Supreme Court Action

Supreme Court Justice Justice Jackson issued the stay late Friday, known as an administrative stay, effectively freezing 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 lengthiest budget standoff in US history.

Wider Effects

Government workers have been without pay for more than a month and air travel has been thrown into chaos as Congress members cannot reach a compromise to pass a budget.

Several states have used their own financial reserves to keep Snap payments going, which are worth around $6 to users 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.