Two federal judges ruled Friday that the Trump administration must fund the SNAP food aid program using contingency funds during the government shutdown.
According to the Associated Press, the rulings come just a day before the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze SNAP payments. Millions of Americans, including 1.4 million Georgians, were expected to lose benefits on Nov. 1.
AP said it wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the SNAP debit cards used to buy groceries could be reloaded after the court ruling. That process usually takes one to two weeks.
One of the ruling judge also gave the Trump administration until Monday, Nov. 3, to report if it would partially pay for the benefits for November with contingency money or fund them fully with additional funds.
The rulings are likely to face appeals from the administration.
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