A SNAP EBT information sign hangs in a bakery as a woman walks by in Chicago on November 2.
Nam Y. Ha/AP
hide signature
switch signature
Nam Y. Ha/AP
The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily granted the Trump administration's request to block full SNAP food benefits during the government shutdown, although residents of some states have already begun receiving them.
The Trump administration is appealing a court order to completely restart the nation's largest anti-hunger program. The high court's decision late Friday gives the lower court time to consider a longer pause.
The move could add to the confusion, however, as the government said Friday it was sending states money to fully fund SNAP while it appealed an order to pay it.
Shortly after U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. made the decision Thursday afternoon, states began announcing they would issue full SNAP benefits. Some people woke up on friday the money is already in the EBT debit cards they use to buy groceries. The number of states continued to grow, including California, Oregon, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania And Connecticut among others.
The Supreme Court's decision means states must for now return to partial payments that the Trump administration previously directed them to distribute. Although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied the administration's request for an administrative stay, the appeals court said it would review the request for a stay and intend to issue a decision as quickly as possible.
Funding for the nation's largest anti-hunger program ran out a week ago as the federal shutdown entered its second month. States, cities and food banks are increasing donations in a desperate attempt to fill the gap. About 42 million people rely on SNAP, most of them extremely low-income families with children and older adults or people with disabilities.
In his ruling, Judge McConnell rebuked the government for its decision earlier this week to make only partial SNAP payments. He said officials had failed to take into account the “unnecessary suffering” that would cause millions of people who rely on the aid. He also suggested that they delayed partial payments for “political reasons.”
The administration has said it does not have enough emergency funds to cover full payments due to the ongoing federal government shutdown. Appealing the new order, officials argue that Congress should provide more funding for SNAP. And they say moving money from other sources at the judge's direction will only harm other child nutrition programs.
“There is no legal basis for an order directing USDA to somehow find $4 billion in metaphorical couch cushions,” the government wrote in its court filing.
Earlier this week, the Agriculture Department allocated about $4 billion from the reserve fund for SNAP, which only covers about half of the program's monthly budget. He ordered states recalculate partial paymentsa complex process that some say can take weeks.
Before the emergency pause, one anti-hunger group welcomed the end of the “long, chaotic and unnecessary delay” in benefit payments this month.
“The Trump administration had both the power and authority to ensure the continued provision of SNAP benefits all along, but chose not to act until a court order forced it to do so,” said Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Center for Food Research and Action.
This story is developing and may be updated.
