Beginning Saturday, some 42 million low-income Americans, including 16 million children, lost access to benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as the government shutdown continues.

The Department of Agriculture has said that funding for this month's benefits, which it says comes to about $9.5 billion, has run dry.

The Trump administration has said that it will not provide a funding lifeline to SNAP, as it has to fund military and other government salaries and benefits affected by the shutdown, and has joined Republicans, who control both chambers in Congress, in blaming Democrats for the situation.

SEE MORE | Judges order the Trump administration to use contingency funds for SNAP payments during the shutdown

SNAP has traditionally been entirely fe

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