WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday it was working to comply with a judge's order to pay full food aid benefits for nearly 42 million low-income Americans within the day, even as President Donald Trump's administration urged an appeals court to relieve it of that obligation.

The USDA memo came the same day that the administration also asked a federal appeals court to block the judge's order. The order blocked the administration's prior plan to only partially fund benefits during the ongoing federal government shutdown.

"FNS (USDA's Food and Nutrition Service) is working towards implementing November 2025 full benefit issuances in compliance with the November 6, 2025, order from the District Court of Rhode Island," said the memo sent from Patrick Penn, deputy under secretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services at the USDA, to state and regional SNAP administrators.

The USDA did not respond to questions about the memo.