A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to make full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments for November despite the government shutdown.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell rejected the administration’s plan to provide partial payments without tapping additional funds, saying it failed to comply with his previous order.

“This is a problem that could have and should have been avoided,” said McConnell, an appointee of former President Obama.

The Trump administration had intended to fully cut off SNAP payments for roughly 42 million Americans starting this month because of the record-breaking government shutdown, leading to two lawsuits that assert the benefits must keep flowing.

Last week, McConnell ruled the administration, at minimum, was require

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