Federal Judges Order Trump Administration to Release Food Stamp Funds Amid Shutdown
Federal courts intervened Friday to prevent the suspension of food assistance to millions of Americans, ordering the Trump administration to utilize available contingency funds to continue the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the ongoing government shutdown. The rulings represent a significant rebuke to the administration’s strategy of selectively funding government priorities while allowing others, like food assistance, to falter.
On Friday afternoon, a federal judge in Rhode Island blocked the administration from halting food aid, responding to a lawsuit brought by a coalition of US cities, non-profit organizations, and a trade union. Simultaneously, in a separate but related case in Massachusetts, another federal judge ruled that the government must continue funding SNAP, which provides a vital lifeline to low-income households facing food insecurity. The case in Massachusetts was filed by the Democratic attorneys general from 22 states, the District of Columbia, and three governors.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) had announced plans to suspend SNAP payments beginning Saturday, November 1, potentially leaving millions of low-income families at risk of both food insecurity and financial hardship. The agency claimed insufficient funds were available to cover the roughly $8.5 billion to $9 billion monthly cost of the program.
Judge John McConnell, a US district judge in Providence, issued a temporary restraining order in the Rhode Island case, finding the USDA’s planned suspension unlawful. Plaintiffs argued the USDA possessed the authority and resources to continue SNAP benefits. SNAP currently assists nearly 42 million Americans – approximately one in eight – each month.
The Trump administration, however, maintained that it lacked the authority to access funds until Congress passed a spending bill to end the government shutdown, which began on October 1. Former President Trump publicly criticized the court decisions, stating on his social media platform that he does “NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT.” He added that he had instructed his legal team to seek clarification on how to legally fund SNAP, but acknowledged potential delays even with a favorable ruling.
The plaintiffs in the Rhode Island case are represented by Democracy Forward, a liberal legal advocacy group. They contend the USDA’s decision to suspend benefits was both wrong and unlawful, highlighting the availability of $5.25 billion in contingency funds previously allocated by Congress for “necessary” program operations. Furthermore, they argued that a separate fund containing approximately $23 billion could also be utilized to avert the unprecedented suspension of SNAP benefits.
In Massachusetts, Judge Indira Talwani gave the administration until Monday to determine whether it would fund November benefits using contingency funds, or fully fund them with additional resources. The immediate impact on beneficiaries – specifically, how quickly Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards could be reloaded – remained unclear, as this process typically takes one to two weeks.
These rulings are widely expected to be appealed by the administration. The states challenging the USDA argued the department has both the legal authority and the financial resources to at least partially maintain the program during the shutdown. “Because of [the] USDA’s actions, Snap benefits will be delayed for the first time since the program’s inception,” the states asserted in their complaint. “Worse still, [the] USDA suspended Snap benefits even though, on information and belief, it has funds available to it that are sufficient to fund all, or at least a substantial portion, of November Snap benefits.”
The administration has consistently argued that the contingency fund is intended for natural disasters – such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods – and not for government shutdowns. While acknowledging the existence of billions of dollars in reserve funds, including emergency funds specifically earmarked for SNAP, officials maintained they were unable to access those funds.
The administration warned that a court order compelling the use of emergency reserves would be “operationally fraught,” potentially leading to weeks of delays and reduced benefit amounts – possibly less than half of the normal monthly allotment. Officials noted that a partial payment “has never been made – and for good reason.” This argument, however, appears to contradict a lapsed-funding plan released by the department in late September, which indicated Congress intended SNAP operations to continue during a shutdown and identified “multi-year contingency funds” as a potential source of funding. That plan has since been removed from the USDA’s website.
The USDA’s website now features a partisan notice, incorrectly accusing Senate Democrats of shutting down the government to provide healthcare to undocumented immigrants and transgender Americans. The notice bluntly states, “Bottom line, the well has run dry,” and confirms that no benefits will be issued on November 1.
This refusal to intervene underscores a broader strategy employed during the shutdown – the second-longest in US history. Throughout the impasse, the Trump administration selectively reprogrammed federal funds to prioritize its political agenda, such as paying military personnel and law enforcement officers involved in immigration enforcement, while allowing programs like SNAP to suffer.
Food banks and pantries, already strained by rising food prices, are bracing for a surge in demand as federal nutrition assistance is threatened. Several states, including Virginia, Maryland, Louisiana, Hawaii, and Minnesota, have announced plans to utilize state and local funds to provide emergency food aid. The governors of New York, Delaware, Oregon, and Virginia have declared states of emergency, allocating millions of dollars to offset the loss of federal benefits. “Unlike Washington Republicans, I won’t sit idly by as families struggle to put food on the table,” stated New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the deployment of the California National Guard to support food banks and allocated $80 million in state funds to bridge the SNAP gap.
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