A coalition led by an ecumenical group of churches throughout Rhode Island is imploring a federal judge to force the Trump administration to comply with a temporary restraining order (TRO) which directs the federal government to continue providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to American families.

In the underlying litigation , the plaintiffs sued the Trump administration over a series of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) memos which put a halt to the release of November SNAP benefits — citing the ongoing government shutdown. To hear the plaintiffs tell it, however, the USDA's pleas of poverty with regard to the SNAP program simply are not true, due to some $3 billion in congressionally-approved SNAP "contingency funds."

Action in the case has been swift.

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