Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will continue to be distributed for now thanks to rulings from federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Trump administration officials had previously threatened to stop benefits on Nov. 1, saying they could not resume until the government shutdown ended.
When the shutdown began Oct. 1, USDA officials initially indicated SNAP payments would continue uninterrupted. Agency officials later changed course, saying that funding could not be distributed after the month’s end.
In remarks to reports on Friday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins blamed Democrats for the looming lapse of funding, saying “it is a lie” that USDA could use its contingency fund to release SNAP funding. While the exact amount of that contingency fund is not known, it is thought to be around $5.3 billion. That amount would cover a little more than half of the anticipated SNAP funding for November.
“There is a contingency fund at USDA, but that contingency fund…is only allowed to flow if the underlying program is funded,” she told reporters.
In a lawsuit filed by 25 states against USDA, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts ruled that USDA is required to use contingency funds to cover the cost of SNAP benefits. U.S. District Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island issued a similar ruling in a separate case less than an hour later. McConnell said there is “no doubt” that those USDA contingency funds were appropriated to carry out the SNAP program.
“The shutdown of the government through funding doesn’t do away with SNAP, it just does away with the funding of it.”
The Trump administration was ordered to report to the court by Monday how it planned to fund SNAP. At this point, it remains unclear if benefits will be delayed or if recipients will receive reduced amounts.
The administration does have a larger contingency fund that could fully fund SNAP. However, it remains unclear if it can be forced to use those funds. Since the shutdown began, the Trump administration has tapped funding to pay for priorities, including military pay and border enforcement. Thus far, it claimed it was unable to do so with SNAP without ending the shutdown.
Critics say Trump has threatened to withhold SNAP funds to force Democrats to reopen the government on Republican terms. So far, Democrats have vowed not to end the shutdown without guarantees that healthcare tax credits will be extended. Republicans have countered they will not negotiate with Democrats on anything before the shutdown ends.
“As we’ve said from the start, the Trump administration was acting illegally,” House Agriculture Committee ranking member Angie Craig, D-Minn., said in a statement shortly after the rulings were announced.” “They have congressionally appropriated dollars to issue SNAP benefits in November and made the cruel decision to let Americans go hungry instead. It should not take a court order for a president to care for his people. I hope this acts as a wakeup call to Republicans who continue to enable and appease this lawless administration at the expense of the people they serve.”