The court extended until just before midnight on Thursday its hold on a previous order that had directed the administration to fully fund benefits this month under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,

The government shutdown appears to be coming to an end. But the Supreme Court has left the Trump administration's freeze on food benefits in place through Thursday.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended a short-term order that allows the Trump administration to withhold covering full food stamp payments in November, a move that appeared designed to put off the case a few days in the hope that Congress approves a pending agreement to reopen the federal government.

The Trump administration urged the US Supreme Court to keep $4 billion in food aid for low-income families on hold until Congress approves a bill to re-open the government.

A federal judge said Monday that she will continue to block the Trump administration from enforcing a memo directing states to "undo" the issuance of full SNAP benefits. The administration is currently seeking to "undo" hundreds of millions of dollars in SNAP benefits that went out after the U.

A federal appeals court ruled late Sunday that the Trump administration can be forced to pay full food benefits in November, putting the onus on the Supreme Court to decide whether the administration can avoid paying benefits that feed more than 40 million people.

The ruling means the government will have to make the payments within 48 hours unless the Supreme Court intervenes.

President Donald Trump’s administration returned to the Supreme Court on Monday in a push to keep full payments in the SNAP federal food aid program frozen while the government is shut down.