The Trump administration ordered payments for SNAP during the shutdown
By Associated Press | Published: 2025-10-31 20:00:00 | Source: Fast Company – news
Two federal judges ruled almost simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s largest food assistance program, using emergency funds during the government shutdown.
Judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island gave the administration discretion on whether to partially or fully fund the program for November.
The rulings came a day before the USDA planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program because it said it could no longer continue funding it because of the shutdown.
The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a key part of the nation’s social safety net, costing about $8 billion a month nationally.
Democratic attorneys general or governors from 25 states, plus the District of Columbia, objected to the plan to pause the program, arguing that the administration had a legal obligation to keep it running in their jurisdictions.
The administration said it was not allowed to use an emergency fund of about $5 billion for the program, reversing a USDA plan before the shutdown that said the money would be tapped to keep SNAP running. Democratic officials argued that the money not only could, but should be used. They also said a separate fund of about $23 billion is available for the issue.
In Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell ruled from the bench in a case brought by cities and nonprofits that the program must be funded using at least emergency funds, and asked for an update on progress by Monday.
Along with ordering the federal government to use emergency reserves to fill SNAP benefits, McConnell ruled that all waivers of previous work requirements must continue to be honored. During the shutdown, the USDA ended existing waivers that exempted work requirements for seniors, veterans, and others.
“The court’s ruling protects millions of families, seniors and veterans from being used as leverage in a political fight and upholds the principle that no one in America should go hungry,” Sky Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said of the Rhode Island decision.
There were similar elements in the Boston case, where U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled in a written opinion that the USDA was obligated to pay for SNAP, calling the suspension “unlawful.” The federal government was ordered to inform the court by Monday whether it will use emergency funds to provide reduced SNAP benefits for November or fully fund the program “using emergency funds and available additional funds.”
“Defendants’ suspension of SNAP payments was based on an erroneous conclusion that emergency funds could not be used to ensure continued SNAP payments,” she wrote. “This court has now made clear that Defendants are required to use these emergency funds as necessary for SNAP.”
It was not immediately clear how quickly debit cards used by patrons to buy groceries would be reloaded after the ruling. This process often takes one to two weeks.
The rulings are likely to face appeal.
States, food banks and SNAP recipients They are bracing for a sudden shift in how low-income people get groceries. Advocates and beneficiaries say stopping food aid will force people to choose between buying groceries and paying other bills.
A majority of states announced more or accelerated funding for food banks or new ways to load at least some benefits onto debit cards used in the program.
At a news conference in Washington earlier Friday, Agriculture Secretary Brock Rollins, whose department runs the SNAP program, said the emergency funds in question would not cover the cost of SNAP for long. Speaking at a news conference with House Speaker Mike Johnson at the Capitol, she blamed Democrats for a “disgusting dereliction of duty” by refusing to end their filibuster in the Senate while demanding an extension of health care funds.
This week’s push to continue funding SNAP during the shutdown He failed in Congress.
To qualify for SNAP in 2025, a family of four whose net income after certain expenses cannot exceed the federal poverty line, which is about $31,000 per year. Last year, SNAP provided assistance to 41 million people, nearly two-thirds of whom were families with children.
—By Michael Casey, Jeff Mulvihill and Kimberly Crosi, The Associated Press
Associated Press reporter Lisa Mascaro contributed.
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(tags for translation)Federal Shutdown
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