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America's top court has issued an urgent ruling that temporarily allows the federal government to withhold billions of dollars for nutrition assistance relied on by countless needy U.S. residents.

The White House appealed to the country's highest court after a federal judge ruled that the SNAP program, also known as food stamps, should be paid out completely to recipients by Friday.

This assistance has been caught in uncertainty by the ongoing federal government shutdown, with the government arguing it could only pay for part of it.

The court's decision means $4bn can be held back for now pending further legal hearings.

SNAP's Reach

This nutrition aid is used by 42 million Americans - around one in eight - and costs almost $9bn a month.

Earlier this week, a Rhode Island judge, John McConnell, accused the government of withholding food aid "due to political motives" and said that without the aid "millions of kids are immediately at risk of facing hunger".

The judge mandated the administration to pay out the programme in full.

Court Proceedings

This decision followed another that required the administration to use reserve money to at least partially fund the assistance for November.

The legal saga was spurred after the USDA, which manages the food stamp program, stated payments would be stopped in November 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 various court orders and was making efforts to distribute the complete amount.

Supreme Court Action

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson granted the stay on Friday evening, called an temporary halt, pausing the previous decision for 48 hours while government lawyer's pursue an appeal.

This dispute over nutrition program money has become among the most contentious of what is now the longest government shutdown in US history.

Broader Impact

Federal employees have been unpaid for over 30 days and air travel has been disrupted as Democratic and Republican lawmakers cannot reach a deal to pass a budget.

Some states have used their own financial reserves to keep food benefits going, which are valued at around $6 to recipients 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.