A federal court in Rhode Island ruled on Saturday that the Trump administration must fully distribute Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by Monday or partially disburse payments no later than Wednesday. The court also affirmed that failure to do so would cause "irreparable harm."

The case is one of two lawsuits seeking to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from suspending SNAP, commonly known as the "food stamp" program, which provides food assistance to low-income households.

In a ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge John McConnell rejected the USDA's argument that it could not fund SNAP due to the government shutdown. Saturday's decision set a strict deadline for the Trump administration: submit a full payment plan by Monday or execute partial payments within the next two days.

"There is no question that emergency funds approved by Congress must be used immediately due to the shutdown. In fact, this president issued guidance during his first term explicitly stating that these emergency funds could be tapped if SNAP funding lapsed during a shutdown," McConnell emphasized in the ruling.