The Trump administration asked the 1st Circuit to urgently block a Rhode Island judge’s order requiring full November SNAP payments to 42 million people by Friday. U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell rejected partial payments and directed the administration to combine $4.65 billion in contingency funds with Section 32 money, which officials had resisted using. The appeals court gave plaintiffs until noon ET to respond to the emergency stay. The dispute unfolds amid a shutdown since Oct. 1, after the administration warned it would halt SNAP, prompting cities, nonprofits, unions, and businesses to sue. McConnell warned of hunger and “needless suffering.”

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.