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The US Supreme Court has issued an emergency order that temporarily allows the federal government to delay billions of dollars for food benefits relied on by millions of low-income Americans.

Administration officials sought relief from the Supreme Court after a lower court ruled that the SNAP program, called food stamps, 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 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

This nutrition aid is used by tens of millions of U.S. citizens - around one in eight - and costs almost £6.9bn a month.

On Thursday, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, alleged the government of blocking nutrition funds "for political reasons" and said that without the aid "millions of kids are immediately at risk of facing hunger".

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

Court Proceedings

This decision followed another that ordered the administration to dip into contingency funds to at least partly pay for the programme for last month.

This court battle 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 budget crisis.

Before the Supreme Court stepped in, the USDA said it was working to comply with the various court orders and was making efforts to doll out the complete amount.

Supreme Court Action

High Court Judge Justice Jackson issued the stay late Friday, called an temporary halt, effectively freezing the lower court's ruling for 48 hours while federal attorneys pursue an appeal.

The row over food aid funding has become one of the bitterest of what is now the longest government shutdown in US history.

Broader Impact

Federal employees have been without pay for more than a month and air travel has been thrown into chaos as Democratic and Republican lawmakers cannot reach a compromise to pass a budget.

Several states have drawn on their own budget savings to keep food benefits flowing, which are worth around six dollars to users via electronic benefit cards which can be used in food markets.

However, certain states have said they are cannot cover the money which has been lost from the federal government.