A federal judge in Rhode Island has given the Trump administration until noon on Monday, Nov. 3, to report to the court on "what it will do to comply'' with his order to use a $6 billion contingency fund to pay suspended SNAP benefits.

U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell also gave the government until noon Wednesday, Nov. 5, at the latest, to make at least partial payments to the millions of people nationwide – and the 140,000-plus people in Rhode Island – who depend on the federal nutrition assistance program commonly known as Food Stamps.

The judge acknowledged – but rejected – the government's contentions that it was legally barred from tapping the contingency, and even if it did, "the contingency funds do not equal the total amount necessary to make November’s SNAP benefit pa

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