A federal judge in Boston on Thursday sharply criticized the Trump administration’s contention it was powerless to prevent the loss of food assistance that is set to run out on Saturday for 42 million people because of the government shutdown.

In a hearing on a lawsuit brought by more than two dozen states to force the administration to cover Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November, US District Court Judge Indira Talwani questioned the government’s argument that it could not tap into a fund set aside for such emergencies to soften the blow.

“Right now, Congress has put funding in an emergency fund for an emergency, and it’s hard for me to understand how this isn’t an emergency,” Talwani told lawyers during a hearing.

Talwani indicated she was likely to issue a ru

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