The availability of food aid for 42 million low-income Americans remained in question as legal wrangling over the benefits continued even as lawmakers took steps toward ending the record-long government shutdown.
In the latest twist, the administration of President Trump indicated to the U.S. Supreme Court it would continue to fight an order requiring it to fully fund food benefits known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The administration has blamed Congress for the crisis and said it was up to lawmakers to solve it.
A letter from the administration to the Supreme Court today came hours after a federal appeals court in Boston rejected a bid by the Trump administration to halt a decision on Thursday by a Rhode Island judge requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture to spend $4 billion to fully fund SNAP benefits, often referred to as food stamps.
The status of the program's funding for November has been thrown into confusion by a series of legal victories and setbacks for nonprofits and Democratic-led states and cities fighting to restore food aid.
As the legal battles played out, the Senate was moving forward on a measure to end the shutdown, although any deal would need approval of the House and the president and could take days.
Read more from Nate Raymond and Jack Queen.
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