Russell Berman: “Government shutdowns are a relatively modern phenomenon. For most of America’s nearly 250-year history, a lapse in congressional appropriations forced federal agencies to limit their spending, but not to close entirely. That changed only under Carter. In 1980, his attorney general, Benjamin Civiletti, wrote a memo in which he argued that according to federal law, the government could not operate once funding bills expired.”

“The era of shutdowns had begun, and from that point on, legislative impasses over spending have put hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work and reduced government services for millions more.”

“Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown,” the AP reports.

“The rulings came a day before the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown.”

“The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net.”

“The moment of truth for SNAP is drawing near, as federal rulings could come at any moment on whether the Agriculture Department legally has to tap emergency money to fund the program ahead of tomorrow’s shutdown-induced cliff,” Politico reports.

“Food aid for tens of millions of low-income Americans hangs in the balance, though many states have plans to step in with funding temporarily.”