🔗 Share this article

The US Supreme Court has issued an urgent ruling that temporarily allows the federal government to withhold billions of dollars for nutrition assistance used by millions of low-income Americans.

Administration officials appealed to the Supreme Court after a federal judge ordered that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food aid, should be distributed in full to beneficiaries by Friday.

This assistance has been left in limbo by the ongoing federal government shutdown, with the government arguing it could only afford to partially fund it.

Friday's ruling means $4bn 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 - approximately 12% - and costs almost £6.9bn a month.

On Thursday, a federal magistrate, the presiding judge, alleged the government of withholding food aid "due to political motives" and said that without the assistance "millions of kids are in danger of going hungry".

The judge mandated the administration to fund the programme in full.

Legal Background

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

This court battle was spurred after the US Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Snap programme, stated benefits would be stopped in November due to the lack of funding over the shutdown.

Prior to the high court's action, the USDA said it was attempting to follow with the various court orders and was taking steps to doll out the complete amount.

High Court's Move

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson granted the stay on Friday evening, known as an administrative stay, effectively freezing the previous decision for 48 hours while federal attorneys seek to overturn it.

The row over food aid funding has become among the most contentious of what is now the lengthiest budget standoff in American history.

Wider Effects

Government workers have been without pay for more than a month and air travel has been thrown into chaos as Democratic and Republican lawmakers fail to agree a compromise to pass a budget.

Several states have drawn on their own budget savings to keep Snap payments going, which are worth around $6 to users via pre-loaded debit cards which can be redeemed in grocery stores.

But some states have said they are unable to replace the funding which has been lost from the federal government.