A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP, rebuking officials for delaying aid to roughly 42 million low income Americans during the shutdown. Judge John J. McConnell Jr. said the government ignored his earlier directive and partly blamed the holdup on attempts by President Trump and aides to disrupt the program for political reasons, citing the president’s threat to halt payments. He gave the government until Friday to pay. The ruling buoyed cities, religious groups and nonprofits after partial payment plans and agency errors, as about two dozen states pursued parallel lawsuits.

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.