The Trump administration has told a federal court that it plans to issue partial SNAP benefit payments to states, a plan the administration was ordered to complete by Wednesday but that officials have indicated could take much longer.

On Monday, the government responded to a judge’s order handed down last week, requiring benefit payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to be issued. A judge in Rhode Island gave the administration until Monday to issue full benefits or until Wednesday to issue partial payments.

The administration acknowledged that it will issue benefits from a $5.5 billion emergency SNAP fund, which is typically tapped when a disaster or emergency drives a large number of people to the food aid program. But that’s not enough to provide full SNAP benefits to the roughly 42 million Americans who use the program. It usually costs $9 billion per month to fund SNAP. For New York, the monthly total that the state takes from the federal government and hands to recipients is $650 million.

The Rhode Island judge had urged the administration to tap tariff revenues, which President Donald J. Trump has repeatedly said total billions of dollars in unanticipated income. But in its filing Monday, the administration said it would not do so.

It’s not clear what this means for the people who rely on SNAP for at least part of their monthly grocery bill. The administration made no reference to how it would direct the partial payments, if each recipient will get a reduced monthly total or if some people would get their full benefit while others receive nothing.

And the process of calculating those partial benefits and issuing them to states to load onto people’s EBT cards will take time — potentially more than the court has given the administration. Not only has SNAP never been delayed or reduced beyond expected changes, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, has many staff on furlough because of the government shutdown.

The White House is also expected to appeal the rulings.