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The US Supreme Court has issued an urgent ruling that temporarily allows the Trump administration to withhold billions of dollars for nutrition assistance relied on by countless needy U.S. residents.

The White House appealed to the Supreme Court after a federal judge ruled that the SNAP program, also known as food stamps, should be distributed completely to recipients by Friday.

The programme has been left in limbo by the ongoing federal government shutdown, with the government claiming it could only pay for part of it.

Friday's ruling means $4bn can be held back for now until more court proceedings.

Programme Impact

This nutrition aid is issued by 42 million Americans - around one in eight - and costs almost £6.9bn a month.

Earlier this week, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, accused the government of blocking nutrition funds "due to political motives" and said that without the assistance "millions of kids are immediately at risk of facing hunger".

He ordered the administration to fund the assistance completely.

Court Proceedings

The Thursday ruling came after that required the government to use contingency funds to at least partially fund the assistance for November.

The legal saga was spurred after the US Department of Agriculture, which manages the food stamp program, announced benefits would be halted in the fall due to the lack of funding over the budget crisis.

Before the Supreme Court stepped in, the USDA said it was attempting to follow with the multiple rulings and was taking steps to doll out the complete amount.

High Court's Move

Supreme Court Justice Justice Jackson granted the stay on Friday evening, known as an temporary halt, pausing the lower court's ruling for two days while government lawyer's seek to overturn it.

The row over nutrition program money has become one of the bitterest of what is now the lengthiest budget standoff in US history.

Broader Impact

Federal employees have been unpaid for more than a month and air travel has been disrupted as Democratic and Republican lawmakers fail to agree a deal to pass a budget.

Several states have drawn on their own financial reserves to keep food benefits going, which are valued at around $6 to users via electronic benefit cards which can be used in food markets.

But some states have said they are cannot cover the funding which has been cut by the U.S. treasury.