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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 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. Word in October that it would be a Nov. 1 casualty of the shutdown sent states, food banks and SNAP recipients scrambling to figure out how to secure food. Some states said they would spend their own funds to keep versions of the program going.

It wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the debit cards that beneficiaries use to buy groceries could be reloaded after the ruling. That process often takes one to two weeks.

Here's the latest:

Air traffic controller shortages lead to broader US flight delays as shutdown nears 1-month mark

The Federal Aviation Administration reported staffing shortages that were causing flight delays Friday at a number of airports, including in Boston, Phoenix, San Francisco, Nashville, Houston, Dallas and the Washington, D.C., area. Airports serving the New York City area — John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty — were also experiencing delays averaging around two hours, according to the FAA.

Staffing shortages can occur both in regional control centers that manage multiple airports and in individual airport towers, but they don’t always lead to flight disruptions. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, flight data showed strong on-time performance at most major airports for the month of October despite isolated staffing problems throughout the month.

But Cirium said the data also showed a “broader slowdown” Thursday across the nation’s aviation system for the first time since the shutdown began Oct. 1, suggesting staffing-related disruptions may be spreading.

▶ Read more about the shutdown and U.S. aviation

Instacart, DoorDash, Gopuff among companies offering discounts to SNAP recipients

Instacart said Friday that it will offer customers who receive SNAP benefits 50% on their next grocery order to ease strain as the government prepares to cut off food aid payments.

the company said any customer who placed an order in October using a SNAP/EBT card will be eligible for the discount, which will be available even if the government makes payments as planned on Nov. 1.