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

Administration officials appealed to the country's highest court after a federal judge ruled that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, should be distributed completely to recipients by the end of the week.

This assistance 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 held back for now until more court proceedings.

SNAP's Reach

The Snap programme is used by tens of millions of U.S. citizens - around one in eight - and requires almost £6.9bn a month.

On Thursday, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, alleged the government of withholding food aid "for political reasons" and said that without the assistance "16 million children are in danger of facing hunger".

The judge mandated the government to pay out the programme completely.

Legal Background

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

The legal saga was spurred after the USDA, which oversees the food stamp program, announced benefits would be stopped in November due to the lack of funding over the shutdown.

Before the Supreme Court stepped in, the Agriculture Department said it was working to comply with the multiple rulings and was taking steps to distribute the complete amount.

High Court's Move

Supreme Court Justice Justice Jackson issued the order late Friday, known as an temporary halt, pausing the previous decision for 48 hours while government lawyer's seek to overturn it.

The row over nutrition program money has become among the most contentious of what is now the longest government shutdown in US history.

Broader Impact

Federal employees have been unpaid for more than a month and flight operations has been disrupted as Congress members fail to agree a compromise to fund the government.

Some states have drawn on their own budget savings to keep food benefits going, which are worth around $6 to recipients 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 cut by the U.S. treasury.