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

The White House sought relief from the Supreme Court after a federal judge ordered that the SNAP program, called food aid, should be paid out completely to beneficiaries by Friday.

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

The court's decision means £3.04bn can be held back for now pending further legal hearings.

SNAP's Reach

The Snap programme is issued by 42 million Americans - around one in eight - and costs almost £6.9bn a each month.

Earlier this week, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, alleged the government of withholding food aid "for political reasons" and said that without the aid "16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry".

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

Legal Background

The Thursday ruling followed another that required the administration to dip into reserve money to at least partially fund the assistance for last month.

This court battle was triggered after the US Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food stamp program, announced benefits would be halted in the fall 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 distribute the complete amount.

High Court's Move

High Court Judge Justice Jackson granted the stay late Friday, known as an temporary halt, effectively freezing the previous decision for two days while government lawyer's seek to overturn it.

This dispute over food aid funding has become among the most contentious of what is now the longest government shutdown in US history.

Wider Effects

Federal employees have been unpaid 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.

Some states have used their own financial reserves to keep food benefits flowing, which are valued at around $6 to users via pre-loaded debit cards which can be used in food markets.

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