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The US Supreme Court has granted an emergency order that temporarily allows the Trump administration to delay billions in funding for food benefits used by countless needy U.S. residents.

Administration officials appealed to the country's highest court after a federal judge ruled that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called food stamps, should be paid out in full to recipients by the end of the week.

This assistance has been caught in uncertainty by the continuing budget impasse, with the government claiming it could only afford to partially fund it.

Friday's ruling means £3.04bn can be held back for now until more court proceedings.

Programme Impact

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

Earlier this week, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, alleged the Trump administration of withholding food aid "due to political motives" and said that without the assistance "16 million children are in danger of going hungry".

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

Legal Background

This decision came after that required the administration to dip into contingency funds to at least partly pay for the assistance for last month.

The legal saga 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 shutdown.

Prior to the high court's action, the Agriculture Department said it was attempting to follow with the multiple rulings and was taking steps to doll out the complete amount.

Supreme Court Action

Supreme Court Justice Justice Jackson issued the order late Friday, known as an administrative stay, effectively freezing the lower court's ruling for 48 hours while government lawyer's pursue an appeal.

This dispute over nutrition program money has become one of the bitterest 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 flight operations has been thrown into chaos as Democratic and Republican lawmakers cannot reach a compromise to fund the government.

Some states have used their own budget savings to keep food benefits going, which are valued at around six dollars to recipients via pre-loaded debit cards which can be redeemed in food markets.

However, certain states have said they are cannot cover the money which has been cut by the U.S. treasury.