A federal judge in Rhode Island has ordered the Trump administration to fully deliver Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to states by Friday (November 8). U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued the order on Thursday, following two weeks of uncertainty over the distribution of food stamps during the ongoing government shutdown.

The legal action stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the progressive legal advocacy group Democracy Forward, which accused the Department of Agriculture of violating the Administrative Procedure Act by planning to withhold SNAP funding in November. The Trump administration initially proposed using $4.65 billion in contingency funds to cover only 65% of the usual benefits, but Judge McConnell found this insufficient.

The judge criticized

See Full Page