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America's top court has granted an emergency order that temporarily allows the Trump administration to withhold billions of dollars for food benefits relied on by countless needy U.S. residents.

Administration officials sought relief from the Supreme Court after a lower court ordered that the SNAP program, also known as food aid, should be paid out in full to beneficiaries by Friday.

This assistance has been left in limbo by the continuing budget impasse, with the Trump administration 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

The Snap programme is used by 42 million Americans - approximately 12% - and costs almost $9bn a month.

On Thursday, a Rhode Island judge, John McConnell, alleged the government of withholding food aid "due to political motives" and said that without the aid "16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry".

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

Court Proceedings

The Thursday ruling followed another that required the government to dip into contingency funds to at least partly pay for the assistance for last month.

This court battle was triggered after the USDA, which manages the Snap programme, stated benefits would be stopped in November due to the lack of funding 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 doll out the complete amount.

Supreme Court Action

High Court Judge Justice Jackson issued the order on Friday evening, called an administrative stay, pausing the previous decision for two days 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 American history.

Wider Effects

Federal employees have been unpaid for over 30 days and flight operations has been disrupted as Congress members fail to agree a deal to pass a budget.

Some states have drawn on their own budget savings to keep Snap payments going, which are valued at around $6 to users via electronic benefit cards which can be used in grocery stores.

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