(The Center Square) – A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to continue funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, while a second judge ruled that the administration's plan to not disperse funds was "unlawful."

U.S District Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use emergency funds to provide SNAP disbursements.

In an announcement earlier this week, the USDA said the ongoing government shutdown made it so "the well has run dry" to fund SNAP.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts said Congress appropriates $6 billion to SNAP to last through Sept. 30, 2026, in the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act.

"Defendants are statutorily mandated to use the previously appropr

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