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A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from ending food aid used by more than 40 million low-income Americans amid the ongoing US government shutdown.
A Rhode Island judge said Friday that a plan to shut down the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or Snap, is likely illegal and issued a retraining order at the plaintiffs’ behest.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said this week that food aid money would not be distributed in November and would continue because of the shutdown, arguing that “the well has run dry.”
The Snap program works by giving people reloadable debit cards that they can use to buy basic groceries.
A family of four earns an average of $715 (£540) a month, which breaks down to just under $6 (£4.50) a day per person.
States administer the programs, with much of the funding coming from the federal government, which has been defunded and shut down since early October.
Several states have pledged to use their own funds to cover any shortfall, but the federal government has warned they will not be reimbursed.
Republicans and Democrats have traded blame for the federal shutdown, soon to enter its second month, and there has been no meaningful progress toward a deal.
