🔗 Share this article Supreme Court Rules Complete Snap Food Aid Can Be Put on Hold. The US Supreme Court has issued an emergency order that temporarily allows the federal government to withhold billions in funding for nutrition assistance used by millions of low-income Americans. The White House sought relief from the country's highest court after a lower court ruled that the SNAP program, called food stamps, should be distributed in full to recipients by Friday. The programme has been caught in uncertainty by the continuing budget impasse, with the government 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. SNAP's Reach The Snap programme is issued by 42 million Americans - around one in eight - and requires almost £6.9bn a each month. On Thursday, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, accused the Trump administration of withholding food aid "for political reasons" and said that without the aid "millions of kids are immediately at risk of facing hunger". The judge mandated the government to pay out the programme in full. Legal Background This decision followed another that ordered the government to use contingency funds to at least partially fund the assistance for November. The legal saga was triggered after the USDA, which oversees the Snap programme, stated benefits would be stopped in the fall due to the budget shortfall over the shutdown. Before the Supreme Court stepped in, the USDA said it was working to comply with the multiple rulings and was taking steps to distribute the full funds. High Court's Move Supreme Court Justice Justice Jackson granted the stay on Friday evening, known as an temporary halt, pausing the previous decision for 48 hours while federal attorneys pursue an appeal. This dispute over nutrition program money has become one of the bitterest of what is now the longest government shutdown in US history. Broader Impact Government workers have been unpaid for more than a month and air travel has been thrown into chaos as Democratic and Republican lawmakers cannot reach a deal to pass a budget. Several states have used their own financial reserves to keep food benefits flowing, which are valued at around six dollars to recipients via electronic benefit cards which can be redeemed in grocery stores. But some states have said they are unable to replace the money which has been cut by the U.S. treasury.