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The US Supreme Court has issued an emergency order that temporarily allows the Trump administration to delay billions in funding for food benefits 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, called food stamps, should be distributed completely to recipients by the end of the week.

This assistance has been left in limbo 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 pending further legal hearings.

SNAP's Reach

This nutrition aid is used by 42 million Americans - approximately 12% - and costs almost $9bn a month.

Earlier this week, a Rhode Island judge, the presiding judge, accused the Trump administration of withholding food aid "for political reasons" and said that without the aid "16 million children are immediately at risk of facing hunger".

He ordered the administration to fund the assistance in full.

Court Proceedings

This decision followed another that required the government to dip into contingency funds to at least partially fund the assistance for November.

This court battle was spurred after the USDA, which manages the Snap programme, stated payments would be halted in November due to the lack of funding over the budget crisis.

Before the Supreme Court stepped in, the Agriculture Department said it was working to comply with the multiple rulings and was making efforts to doll out the full funds.

Supreme Court Action

High Court Judge Justice Jackson issued the stay on Friday evening, known as an administrative stay, pausing the lower court's ruling for two days while government lawyer's seek to overturn it.

This dispute over nutrition program money has become one of the bitterest of what is now the lengthiest budget standoff in American history.

Wider Effects

Government workers have been without pay for more than a month and flight operations has been disrupted as Democratic and Republican lawmakers fail to agree a compromise to pass a budget.

Some states have used their own budget savings to keep food benefits going, which are worth around six dollars to recipients via pre-loaded debit cards which can be used in food markets.

But some states have said they are unable to replace the money which has been lost from the U.S. treasury.