Single mother grapples with loss of SNAP benefits
The single mother is juggling the suspension of SNAP benefits while working full time and watching over her two daughters at a shelter.
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court said late Friday that the Trump administration does not have to immediately pay out the full amount of SNAP food benefits for now, a last-ditch but temporary order that leaves the 42 million Americans who rely on food stamps in limbo.
The court temporarily put on hold a lower court ruling that required the administration to use a combination of reserve funds and other funds to pay states in full for November during the federal government shutdown.
The suspension issued by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, known as an administrative stay, gave the appeals court more time to fully consider President Trump’s request.
The administration had said it could only make partial payments and would not be able to transfer an additional $4 billion to states by Friday night.
But U.S. District Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island said the administration’s argument that the funds earmarked for the child nutrition program would not be used to fill the November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit gap is “impossible” given that the child program is expected to have money until at least May and Congress could replenish the funding by then.
In contrast, failing to utilize these funds to pay for the full amount of SNAP November food assistance creates a “very real and immediate risk that children will be deprived of food assistance today,” McConnell wrote.
The Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit on Friday declined to immediately block the decision. The Supreme Court’s order gives the appellate court more time to consider whether to suspend the judge’s order.
The Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court on Friday night, arguing that the funding shortfall is a crisis that only Congress can resolve.
And unless the Supreme Court intervenes, the justices told the justices, all beneficiaries of federal programs could rush to court to seek funding, leading to a “judicial statutory barrage.”
“While Congress’ core power is the power of the purse, the executive branch is tasked with allocating limited resources across competing priorities,” the Justice Department said in its appeal. “But here, the courts below have deemed the current closure to be a valid authorization to declare federal bankruptcy and to appoint a receiver charged with choosing winners and losers among those seeking a portion of the limited remaining federal funds.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has told states that full SNAP benefits are on the way, but when and whether those benefits will reach the 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP to eat remains an open question.
Food assistance is provided to people who earn less than 130% of the federal poverty line. One person can receive up to $298 in monthly assistance.
New York Attorney General Letitia James called the decision “a tragedy for the millions of Americans who rely on SNAP to support their families.”
“It is shameful that the Trump administration has chosen to fight this in court instead of fulfilling its responsibility to the American people,” he said in a statement.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that the Justice Department “will not stop fighting day and night to protect and advance President Trump’s policies.”
