Two federal judges in the United States have ruled that the administration of President Donald Trump cannot suspend food assistance to low-income individuals, signalling that the government must draw from contingency funds as a government shutdown drags on.

Friday’s decisions were released within minutes of one another, and both concerned the fate of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP.

About 42 million people — or one in eight US citizens — rely on SNAP to feed their households. That assistance was set to come to a halt on Saturday.

The Trump administration has argued that, since Congress failed to pass a budget bill in September, it can no longer fund the programme, nor can it use contingency funds to make up the shortfall.

But both of Friday’s rulings call

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