Trump administration to use emergency funds to pay partial food aid benefits

The Trump administration said it plans to partially fund on Monday food aid for millions of Americans after two judges ruled it must use contingency funds to pay for the benefits in November during the government shutdown.

The administration laid out the U.S. Department of Agriculture's plan in a filing in federal court in Rhode Island at the direction of a judge who had last week ordered it to use emergency funds to at least partially cover November's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

The U.S. Department of Justice said the USDA is complying with U.S. District Judge John McConnell's order and "will fulfill its obligation to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds today."

But while the administration said it would fully deplete the $5.25 billion in contingency funds, it would not use other funding that would allow it to fully fund SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans, which cost $8 billion to $9 billion per month.