BOSTON — A federal court decision may come as soon as Thursday afternoon, which could avoid a total cutoff of federal food assistance to 42 million Americans that is set to begin Saturday.

The Trump administration has stated that benefits from SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program formerly known as food stamps, could not continue to flow due to the federal government shutdown which began nearly a month ago. "The well has run dry," the USDA posted on its website last week.

But Democratic governors and attorneys general from some two dozen states sued the federal government to keep the payments coming, arguing that SNAP is an entitlement that cannot be cut off. Doing so, they argue, would cause irreparable damage to millions of Americans, and to states that will be

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