BOSTON —

A federal judge in Boston, Massachusetts gave the United States Department of Agriculture until Monday to come up with a plan to at least partially fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Almost simultaneously, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the program must be funded using at least the contingency funds – and similarly asked for an update on progress by Monday.

The order comes in response to a lawsuit against the Trump administration brought by 25 states, including Massachusetts.

In her memorandum entered on Friday, Judge Indira Talwani said, "Plaintiffs have standing to bring this action and are likely to succeed on their claim that Defendants’ suspension of SNAP benefits is unlawful."

The judge appears to be siding with the states in that the gove

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