A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute money owed to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program "as soon as possible," just one day before funding for SNAP was set to lapse.

U.S District Judge John McConnell's ruling from the bench came shortly after another federal judge in a separate case said that the Trump administration's plan not to pay out SNAP benefits beginning on Nov. 1 due to the ongoing shutdown was "unlawful" but stopped short of ordering the Trump administration to disperse funds.

Ruling in favor of a group of cities and community organizations that sued over the cuts, McConnell said that the USDA must fund SNAP on Saturday using money in a contingency fund. But, he added that if the department finds

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