Washington — The Justice Department on Friday asked the Supreme Court to freeze a lower court order that requires the Trump administration to swiftly provide full federal food benefits to roughly 42 million Americans, turning to the high court for emergency relief shortly after a federal appeals court left the decision in place.

Absent any 11th-hour emergency relief from the Supreme Court, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will have to take steps, for now, to cover in-full payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by the end of the day Friday. The administration said it has already exhausted the entirety of a more than $5 billion contingency reserve, which held enough to provide partial food assistance payments for the month.

Earlier Friday, the 1st Circuit denied the

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