However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) warned that it no longer has the funding to deliver November food benefits. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell co-led a coalition of 22 other attorneys general and three governors in suing the Trump administration over the funding lapse, saying the funds do exist in a contingency fund.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — more commonly known as SNAP, or food stamps — is a key benefits program that serves more than 40 million people across the country. Now, the shutdown is threatening to temporarily suspend benefits, raising concerns over where millions of people who rely on the program will turn to for food.

The allocation of emergency funding is intended to help more than 440,000 Minnesotans who will go without federal and state nutrition assistance in November due to the shutdown.

The Agriculture Department said it can't use contingency funds to pay for SNAP benefits, contradicting earlier guidance that the money was available.

Families who rely on federal food assistance are searching for ways to put meals on the table as Nov. 1 approaches, when the federal government said recipients will go without benefits following the shutdown.