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America's top court has issued an emergency order that temporarily allows the federal government to withhold billions of dollars for food benefits used by countless needy U.S. residents.

The White House appealed to the Supreme Court after a lower court ordered that the SNAP program, called food aid, should be paid out in full to beneficiaries by the end of the week.

This assistance has been left in limbo by the continuing budget impasse, with the Trump administration arguing it could only afford to partially fund it.

Friday's ruling means $4bn can be temporarily withheld until more court proceedings.

SNAP's Reach

The Snap programme is issued by tens of millions of U.S. citizens - approximately 12% - and costs almost $9bn a each month.

On Thursday, a federal magistrate, John McConnell, accused the Trump administration of withholding food aid "due to political motives" and said that without the aid "16 million children are in danger of going hungry".

The judge mandated the government to fund the assistance completely.

Court Proceedings

This decision came after that ordered the government to use contingency funds to at least partially fund the programme for November.

The legal saga was triggered after the USDA, which oversees the Snap programme, stated benefits would be stopped 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 doll out the complete amount.

Supreme Court Action

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued the order on Friday evening, known as an temporary halt, effectively freezing the previous decision for two days while federal attorneys seek to overturn it.

This dispute over nutrition program money has become among the most contentious of what is now the lengthiest budget standoff in US history.

Broader Impact

Government workers have been unpaid for more than a month and flight operations has been thrown into chaos as Congress members fail to agree a deal to fund the government.

Several states have used their own financial reserves to keep Snap payments going, which are worth around $6 to users via electronic benefit cards which can be used in grocery stores.

However, certain states have said they are unable to replace the money which has been lost from the federal government.