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America's top court has granted an urgent ruling that permits for now the federal government to delay billions in funding for nutrition assistance relied on by millions of low-income Americans.

The White House sought relief from the country's highest court after a lower court ordered that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called food stamps, should be distributed completely to recipients by the end of the week.

This assistance has been caught in uncertainty by the ongoing federal government shutdown, 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 used by 42 million Americans - around one in eight - and costs almost $9bn a each month.

On Thursday, a Rhode Island judge, John McConnell, accused the Trump administration of withholding food aid "due to political motives" and said that without the aid "millions of kids are immediately at risk of facing hunger".

The judge mandated the administration to pay out the programme in full.

Court Proceedings

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

This court battle was spurred after the US Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Snap programme, stated benefits would be stopped in the fall due to the budget shortfall over the budget crisis.

Prior to the high court's action, the Agriculture Department said it was attempting to follow with the various court orders and was making efforts to distribute the complete amount.

Supreme Court Action

High Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson granted the order late Friday, called an temporary halt, effectively freezing the lower court's ruling for 48 hours while federal attorneys 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.

Wider Effects

Federal employees have been without pay for more than a month and flight operations has been thrown into chaos as Congress members cannot reach a deal to fund the government.

Some states have drawn on their own budget savings to keep Snap payments flowing, which are valued at around six dollars to recipients via electronic benefit 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 federal government.