After weeks of turmoil and legal wrangling, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Friday it will pay food benefits to more than 42 million Americans.
Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), also known as food stamps, has been a focus during the U.S. government shutdown, which is now in its 38th day.
The judge told the Trump administration that it had to use the reserve funding to feed the one in eight Americans who depend on the program. But this funding could not cover the program's full monthly cost of almost $9 billion (£6.9 billion).
Then on Thursday, another judge said the Trump administration must fully fund the program.
The USDA's confirmation marks the end of one of the major phases of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
On Thursday, Judge John McConnell accused the Trump administration of withholding food aid “for political reasons” and said that without aid, “16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry.”
The administration filed a judicial protest against this decision. It remains unclear what will happen to the problem now that the USDA has agreed to pay the full amount of Snap's benefits.
Trump has repeatedly said Snap is a program used by Americans in Democratic states and has said the program will be funded once Democrats end the government shutdown.
Over the past week, the program has gone from being completely defunded to being fully funded.
Meanwhile, millions of Americans were left without their Snap funds.
Snap is worth about $8 billion a month and allows many low-income Americans to buy groceries. It provides them with reloadable debit cards that they can use to buy food.
A family of four averages $715 a month, which works out to just under $6 a day per person.
While individual US states administer the benefits, the program relies on money from the federal government, which is unfunded and closed as of October 1.
