The court's order, known as an administrative stay, gives a lower court additional time to consider the administration's formal request to only partially fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps, for November.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who issued the stay, set it to expire two days after the Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals rules on the administration's request to halt a judge's order that the US Department of Agriculture promptly pay the full amount of this month's SNAP benefits, which cost $US8.5 billion to $US9 billion per month.
The ruling by US District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, came after the administration said it would provide $US4.65 billion in emergency funding to partially cover SNAP benefits for November.
Jackson said the 1st Circuit was expected to rule on the administration's request to block McConnell's order "with dispatch."
US Attorney General Pam Bondi noted the Supreme Court's decision in a post on X, which paused a court ruling she deemed "judicial activism at its worst."
Department of Justice lawyers told the Supreme Court that McConnell's ruling, if allowed to stand, would "sow further shutdown chaos" by prompting "a run on the bank by way of judicial fiat."
The administration originally planned to suspend SNAP benefits altogether in November, citing a lack of funding because of the shutdown.
But McConnell last week ordered the USDA to use emergency SNAP funding to cover part of this month's cost.Â
In the ruling, he ordered the USDA to make up for the shortfall with money from a separate department program with $US23.35 billion in funding, derived from tariffs, that supports child nutrition.
The 1st Circuit on Friday denied the Trump administration's request to administratively stay McConnell's ruling.
It has yet to issue a ruling on the administration's formal request to halt the judge's order, but the 1st Circuit panel, which consisted of three judges appointed by Democratic presidents, said it would do so "as quickly as possible."
SNAP benefits lapsed at the start of the month for the first time in the program's 60-year history. Recipients have turned to already strained food pantries and made sacrifices like forgoing medications to stretch tight budgets.
SNAP benefits are paid monthly to eligible Americans whose income is less than 130 per cent of the federal poverty line. The maximum monthly benefit for the 2026 fiscal year is $US298 for a one-person household and $US546 for a two-person household.
