🔗 Share this article Supreme Court Decides Full Snap Food Aid Can Be Temporarily Halted. The US Supreme Court has granted an urgent ruling that permits for now the Trump administration to delay billions in funding for nutrition assistance used by countless needy U.S. residents. The White House appealed to the country's highest court after a lower court ruled that the SNAP program, called food aid, should be distributed completely to recipients by the end of the week. This assistance has been caught in uncertainty by the ongoing federal government shutdown, with the Trump administration claiming it could only afford to partially fund it. Friday's ruling means $4bn can be held back for now pending further legal hearings. SNAP's Reach This nutrition aid is issued by tens of millions of U.S. citizens - around one in eight - and requires almost $9bn a month. Earlier this week, a federal magistrate, the presiding judge, accused the government of blocking nutrition funds "for political reasons" and said that without the assistance "16 million children are in danger of going hungry". He ordered the administration to fund the assistance in full. Court Proceedings The Thursday ruling came after that ordered the government to use contingency funds to at least partially fund the programme for November. This court battle was triggered after the USDA, which manages the food stamp program, stated benefits would be halted in November due to the lack of funding over the shutdown. Prior to the high court's action, the USDA said it was working to comply with the multiple rulings and was taking steps to distribute the full funds. Supreme Court Action High Court Judge Justice Jackson issued the stay on Friday evening, called an temporary halt, effectively freezing the previous decision for two days while government lawyer's pursue an appeal. The row over food aid funding has become one of the bitterest of what is now the longest government shutdown in US history. Broader Impact Federal employees have been without pay for more than a month and air travel has been thrown into chaos as Democratic and Republican lawmakers cannot reach a compromise to fund the government. Several states have used their own budget savings to keep food benefits flowing, which are valued at around six dollars to recipients via electronic benefit cards which can be redeemed in grocery stores. However, certain states have said they are cannot cover the funding which has been cut by the federal government.