Supreme Court Decides Full Snap Food Benefits Can Be Put on Hold.
The US Supreme Court has granted an emergency order that temporarily allows the federal government to withhold billions of dollars for nutrition assistance relied on by countless needy U.S. residents.
Administration officials sought relief from the country's highest court after a lower court ordered that the SNAP program, called food aid, should be distributed in full to beneficiaries by the end of the week.
The programme has been caught in uncertainty by the continuing budget impasse, with the government claiming it could only afford to partially fund it.
The court's decision means $4bn can be temporarily withheld until more court proceedings.
Programme Impact
The Snap programme is issued by 42 million Americans - around one in eight - and requires almost £6.9bn a each month.
Earlier this week, a Rhode Island judge, the presiding judge, alleged the government of withholding food aid "due to political motives" and said that without the assistance "16 million children are in danger of going hungry".
The judge mandated the administration to fund the assistance in full.
Legal Background
The Thursday ruling followed another that ordered the government to use reserve money to at least partly pay for the assistance for November.
This court battle was triggered after the USDA, which oversees the Snap programme, announced payments would be stopped in the fall due to the lack of funding over the budget crisis.
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 distribute the complete amount.
Supreme Court Action
High Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson granted the stay late Friday, called an administrative stay, pausing the previous decision for 48 hours while federal attorneys seek to overturn it.
This dispute over food aid funding has become one of the bitterest of what is now the lengthiest budget standoff in American history.
Broader Impact
Government workers have been unpaid for over 30 days and flight operations has been thrown into chaos as Congress members fail to agree a deal to fund the government.
Some states have used their own financial reserves to keep Snap payments flowing, which are valued at around $6 to users via pre-loaded debit cards which can be used in grocery stores.
But some states have said they are cannot cover the funding which has been lost from the federal government.
