More than 42 million Americans are waiting with bated breath to hear if the Trump administration will use emergency funding to provide billions in food aid.
Judges gave the Trump administration until Monday at 12:00 EST (17:00 GMT) to give updates about how it plans to pay for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) benefits, also known as food stamps.
Funding for the program remains in limbo due to the more-than-month-long US government shutdown caused by the inability of Congress to agree on a funding deal.
Regardless of the judges' ruling or other resolution, millions of Americans have gone without essential food assistance since funding for the program ran dry on Saturday.
While individual US states administer the benefits, the programme relies on money from the federal government, which has been unfunded and shut down since 1 October.
