Two federal judges in separate rulings Friday told the USDA that it must begin using billions of dollars in reserve funding to provide federal food assistance poor American families despite the federal government shutdown, but gave the agency until Monday to decide how to do so.
Both Obama-appointed judges rejected the Trump administration's arguments that more than $5 billion in USDA reserve funds could not legally be used to continue providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to nearly 42 million Americans while the federal government remains closed. But both also left unclear exactly how aid should be provided and when it would arrive for the millions of families who will lose benefits starting Saturday.
Both decisions were made almost simultaneously on Friday.
In Massachusetts, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani failed to grant California and a coalition of 24 other Democratic-led states the temporary restraining order they had asked for. But she ruled that states would likely succeed in their arguments that the USDA's complete cutoff of SNAP benefits — despite having billions in emergency reserve funds — was illegal.
Talwani gave the USDA until Monday to tell her whether they would allow “only reduced SNAP benefits” using reserve funding (which would not cover the total $8.5 billion to $9 billion needed for all November benefits, according to the USDA), or allow “full SNAP benefits using both reserve funds and additional available funds.”
Separately, in Rhode Island, U.S. District Judge John McConnell granted a temporary restraining order requested by the nonprofits, ruling that SNAP must be funded at a minimum from reserve funds and asking for an update on progress by Monday.
The White House referred questions about the decision to the Office of Management and Budget, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is unclear whether the administration will appeal the decision.
Massachusetts' order was a victory for California and other Democratic-led states that have sued over the end of SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps, while Republicans and Democrats continue quarrel over resumption of government work in Washington.
But that won't mean all SNAP recipients, including 5.5 million Californians, will be spared the food assistance interruption, state officials stressed, as state and local food banks continue to scramble to prepare for a flood of need starting Saturday.
Asked Thursday whether a ruling in favor of the states would mean SNAP funds would be immediately transferred to CalFresh cards and other benefits, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, whose office helped bring the state's lawsuit, said “the answer, unfortunately, is no.”
“Our best estimate is that [SNAP benefit] the cards can be downloaded and used in about a week,” he said, calling the delay “problematic.”
“It could be about a week where people are hungry and need food,” he said. For new applicants to the program, it could take even longer, he said.
The rulings came as the month-long shutdown continued Friday with no immediate end in sight. The Senate adjourned Thursday and is not scheduled to reconvene until Monday.
It also comes after President Trump on Thursday called on the Senate to end the shutdown first. ending the filibustera longstanding rule that requires 60 votes to overcome objections to legislation. Lawmakers have traditionally favored the rule as a means of blocking particularly partisan measures, and it is now being used by Democrats to resist the will of the current 53-seat Republican majority.
“It’s time for Republicans to play their “trump card” and take the so-called nuclear option—get rid of the filibuster and get rid of it NOW!” Trump wrote about this on his platform Truth Social.
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank Executive Director Michael Flood, who stood next to Bonta as members of the California National Guard worked behind them stuffing boxes of food, said his organization was bracing for huge lines on Saturday, the first of the month.
He said he expected long lines of families in need of food to appear outside food distribution sites throughout the region, which is what happened. in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For us here in Los Angeles County, throughout the state of California and across the country, this is a catastrophic situation,” Flood said.
“5.5 million Californians, 1.5 million children and adults in Los Angeles County alone will be forced into poverty – illegally, unnecessarily and morally bankrupt,” Bonta said.
Bonta blamed the shutdown on Trump and his administration and said the USDA has billions of dollars in reserve funds intended to ensure the continuation of SNAP benefits during emergencies and broke the law by not using those funds in the current situation.
Bonta said SNAP benefits were never interrupted during previous federal government shutdowns and should never have been interrupted during this shutdown.
“This could have been avoided,” he said. “Trump created this problem.”
The Trump administration has blamed the shutdown and the looming breakdown of SNAP benefits entirely on Democrats in Congress, who have blocked short-term spending measures to restart the government and fund SNAP. Democrats are trying to pressure Republicans to defect from the party. massive subsidy cuts that help millions of Americans afford health insurance.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, previously told The Times that it was Democrats who should be asked “when the shutdown will end” because “they are the ones who decided to shut down the government so they could use working Americans and SNAP benefits as 'leverage' to advance their radical left agenda.”
“Americans are suffering because of the Democrats,” Jackson said.
In their opposition to the states' request for a temporary restraining order requiring payment of the funds, USDA attorneys argued that using emergency funds to cover November SNAP benefits would deplete funds intended to provide “critical support in the event of natural disasters and other uncontrollable disasters” and could actually lead to greater disruption of benefit payments in the future.
They wrote that SNAP requires between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month, and the USDA only has about $5.25 billion in its reserve fund, meaning it would not be able to fully fund the November benefits even if it did release reserve funding. Meanwhile, “the partial payment was never made—and for good reason,” because it would have forced each state to recalculate benefits for recipients and then recalibrate their systems to provide the new amounts, they wrote.
This “will take several weeks, if it can be done at all,” and then will have to be lifted to issue December benefits at normal levels, assuming the lockdown is lifted by then, they wrote. “The disruption this will cause, as each state is forced to repeatedly reprogram its systems, will lead to chaos and uncertainty for months to come, even after the break ends,” they wrote.
In their view, simply suspending benefits and immediately resuming them when the quarantine ends is a smarter and less disruptive course of action.
During Thursday's hearing on the states' case, Talwani suggested that existing rules require government action to prevent the kind of suffering that cutting off food aid entirely would cause, no matter what the partisan squabbles take place in Washington.
“If you don’t have money, you tighten your belt,” she said. said in court. “You’re not going to make everyone drop dead because it’s a political game somewhere.”
In addition to suing the administration, California and its leaders are rushing to make sure hungry families have something to eat in the coming days. Governor Gavin Newsom sent $80 million to food banks stockpile food and activated the National Guard to help package food for those who need it.
Counties are also working to offset this need, including directing additional funding to food banks and other resource centers and reaching out to private sector partners for assistance.
Dozens of organizations in California have written to Newsom urging him to use state funds to fully cover missing federal benefits to prevent a “crisis of unimaginable proportions,” but Newsom suggested that would be impossible given the scale of funding withheld.
In fiscal year 2024, about 41.7 million Americans received SNAP assistance each month, at an annual cost of nearly $100 billion, according to the USDA. Of the 5.5 million recipients in California, children and seniors make up more than 63%.
This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.
