The US Supreme Court on Tuesday extended an order blocking full Snap payments, amid signals that the government shutdown could soon end and food aid payments resume.
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The order keeps in place at least for a few more days a chaotic situation. People who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme to feed their families in some states have received their full monthly allocations, while others have received nothing.
The order will expire just before midnight on Thursday.
The Senate has approved a bill to end the shutdown and the House of Representatives could vote on it as early as Wednesday.
Reopening the government would restart the programme that helps 42 million Americans buy groceries, but it’s not clear how quickly full payments would resume.
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The justices chose what is effectively the path of least resistance, anticipating the federal government shutdown would end soon while avoiding any substantive legal ruling about whether lower court orders to keep full payments flowing during the shutdown are correct.