The Trump administration says it will make partial benefit payments to food assistance recipients in November as the federal shutdown continues, though it was far from clear when those payments would begin reaching families.

Responding to a judge's order in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island on Monday, Nov. 3, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it would make partial benefit payments rather than full ones and use a contingency fund in order to cover those payments.

The USDA had said on Oct. 24 it would suspend beginning in November food assistance payments under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, through the states to some 42 million Americans − and 1.4 million Michiganders − because of the shutdown, which began as federal appropriations lapsed at midni

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