Two judges order Trump administration to continue pay SNAP benefits despite federal shutdown

Two federal judges have ruled that Donald Trump’s administration must continue paying out food stamps — which 42 million people depend on — despite the ongoing federal government shutdown. In two separate rulings released just minutes apart, both judges determined that the government is “required” to use the billions available in emergency funds to at least partially finance the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which was set to run out of money on Saturday, November 1.

The Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food assistance program, had announced last weekend that SNAP would run out of funds due to the shutdown, leaving its beneficiaries without aid. One in eight Americans depends on the program to buy food. Federal officials argued that they cannot tap into contingency funds to keep it running during the shutdown, since that money is reserved for natural disasters. The Trump administration is expected to appeal both rulings.

In an oral ruling issued Friday in response to a lawsuit filed a day earlier by a coalition of eight cities and several community and business groups, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell of Rhode Island said: “There is no doubt that the […] contingency funds are appropriated funds that are without a doubt necessary to carry out the program’s operation.”

SNAP has a contingency fund as a reserve to sustain benefits during short-term funding gaps. In the program’s 60-year history, payments have never been suspended due to a lapse in federal appropriations. The current reserve holds about $6 billion — not enough to cover the full program, which requires roughly $8 billion per month nationwide.

Judge McConnell clarified that if SNAP’s contingency fund runs short, the government must draw on other sources to make the payments.

The second ruling came from U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts, in response to a lawsuit filed October 28 by 25 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia. Her order stated: “This court has now clarified that Defendants are required to use those Contingency Funds as necessary for the SNAP program. And while these contingency funds reportedly are insufficient to cover the entire cost of SNAP for November, Defendants also may supplement the Contingency Funds by authorizing a transfer of additional funds […] to avoid any reductions."

However, Judge Talwani gave the federal government until Monday, November 3, to “consider whether they will authorize at least reduced SNAP benefits for November.”

The plaintiffs argue that the government could also draw from another Department of Agriculture account that held $23 billion as of early October. Just weeks ago, the White House used that same budget line to prevent the suspension of another federal nutrition program for low-income women and children, known as WIC, during the shutdown.

Despite the rulings, millions of beneficiaries are expected to face delays in receiving their benefits, originally scheduled to begin November 1, due to logistical challenges. It remains to be seen whether the White House will appeal to block payments again.

President Trump’s administration has blamed the Democratic Party for the possible suspension of SNAP, as well as for the shutdown itself, which caused the funding gap. On Friday, when asked about the issue, the president suggested that the government could continue financing the food assistance program — contradicting previous statements from his own officials, who said it was impossible.

“Well, there always is,” Trump said when asked whether the administration could find funding for SNAP, before immediately conditioning its release on Democrats voting to reopen the government: “All the Democrats have to do is say, let’s go. I mean, they don’t have to do anything — all they have to do is say the government is open.” Meanwhile, negotiations between both parties to end the nearly month-long shutdown continue on Capitol Hill, with no agreement in sight.

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