Washington DC - A federal judge on Friday ordered President Donald Trump's administration to provide emergency funding for a food aid program threatened with closure by the month-long government shutdown, court documents showed.

John J. McConnell, of Rhode Island, told the Department of Agriculture that it must tap a $5 billion contingency fund to continue paying the benefits, which offer vital help to 42 million low-income Americans struggling with grocery bills.

The ruling comes just hours ahead of the deadline for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is due to run out of money on Saturday.

Around two dozen states run by Democrats sued the Trump administration earlier this week over its refusal to tap the emergency funds to preserve SNAP benefits.

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"Nearly 600,000 children in our state could be without food in a few days because USDA is playing an illegal game of shutdown politics," North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

CNN reported on Friday that it asked Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins if she would comply with a judge's order requiring the government to release the money, and she responded: "We're looking at all the options."