US President Donald Trump’s administration asked the US Supreme Court on Friday to stop a court order requiring it to quickly fully fund food aid for 42 million low-income Americans this month during the US government shutdown.
According to Politico, Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the Supreme Court to grant the stay “until 9:30 p.m. Friday at the latest” so the administration doesn’t have to make an “irreversible transfer of billions of dollars” by the end of the day.
Last week, a judge blocked the Trump administration from completely suspending the benefits. But on Monday, the administration said it would only give those who sign up for the program half of what they typically receive.
What happened?
The Trump administration filed an emergency request asking the justices to act within hours to suspend a Rhode Island judge’s order requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture by Friday to cover an expected $4 billion shortfall in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, or food stamps.
This comes after a federal appeals court refused to temporarily suspend a court order requiring the Trump administration to fully fund November food aid payments to 42 million eligible Americans, reports claimed.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s decision Thursday in Providence came after the administration said it would provide $4.65 billion in emergency funding to partially cover SNAP benefits for November. Fully funding the program costs $8.5 to $9 billion per month.
The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday denied the Trump administration’s request to stay McConnell’s decision, prompting the Justice Department to file an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court.
The appeals court issued its ruling hours after the USDA announced it would make funds available to fully fund SNAP benefits.
The USDA sent the memo to states even as the Justice Department urged a federal appeals court to block a judge’s order that the USDA use $4 billion earmarked for other purposes by Friday to ensure Americans receive full, not reduced, SNAP benefits in November.
What are the benefits of SNAP?
SNAP benefits ended in early November for the first time in the program’s 60-year history. Beneficiaries turned to already strained food pantries and made sacrifices like previous medications to stretch tight budgets.
SNAP benefits are paid monthly to eligible Americans whose income is less than 130% of the federal poverty line. The maximum monthly benefit for fiscal year 2026 is $298 for a one-person household and $546 for a two-person household.
“Reduced Cuts Leave 1 in 8 Americans Hungry”
Food banks are struggling under the weight of “unprecedented demand,” Linda Nageotte, president and chief operating officer of Feeding America, a network of US food banks, told the Guardian.
“One in eight people in our country don’t have enough to eat right now, and if you’re one in seven who does, it’s time to get active,” Nageotte said.
Prosecutors in the case said in a brief Friday that the administration showed indifference to the harm that would affect nearly one in eight Americans if the 1st Circuit agreed to halt McConnell’s decision and allow all benefits to continue.
States are beginning to provide aid
Several states, including New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, announced after the USDA issued its memo that they had ordered state agencies to issue full federal SNAP benefits for November.
“President Trump should never have put the American people in this position,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, said in a statement.
McConnell and other judges ruled last week that the administration must use at least $5.25 billion in emergency funding to partially fund SNAP benefits.
On Saturday, McConnell said the USDA could either use emergency funding for agencies once it resolves the “administrative and administrative burden” of paying the reduced benefits, or use additional funds to fully pay November’s SNAP benefits.
The USDA decided Monday to use only emergency funding, which after deducting $600 million in administrative costs to states, leaves $4.65 billion to cover benefits.
McConnell agreed Thursday with a coalition of cities and nonprofits represented by the liberal advocacy group Democracy Forward that the USDA failed to consider that it could take weeks or months for some states to change their systems to process the reduced benefits, extending the delay.
The judge, appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, accused the Trump administration of withholding SNAP benefits for “political reasons.”
The plaintiffs said in a brief Friday that the administration is disregarding the harm that would affect nearly one in eight Americans if the 1st Circuit agreed to halt McConnell’s decision and allow anything short of the full amount to proceed.
“The court should deny the defendants’ motion and not allow them to further delay getting vital food assistance to individuals and families who need it now,” the lawyers wrote.
(With inputs from Reuters)
