With Congress on the brink of a deal to end the government shutdown , the Supreme Court has agreed to let the political process play out and keep in place a brief pause of a federal court judge's ruling that ordered the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP benefits in November.

About 42 million Americans rely on food aid from SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

On Friday, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson had granted a stay on behalf of the Court, blocking the lower court's order that the administration transfer some $4 billion from other food security programs to SNAP payments. That Supreme Court stay was set to expire late Tuesday night, but will now stay in place until 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday.

The administration noted in its Supreme Court filing Monday that

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