Supreme Court blocks full SNAP food aid payments amid U.S. government shutdown
The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a lower court order requiring the Trump administration to distribute full monthly SNAP food aid payments during the ongoing government shutdown — leaving millions of Americans uncertain about their November benefits.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued the emergency order late Friday, pausing a federal judge’s ruling that forced the government to pay out full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The pause will remain in place until 48 hours after a federal appeals court decides whether to extend it, News.Az reports, citing AP News.
The Trump administration argued it lacked sufficient funds and that a judge’s earlier order “made a mockery of the separation of powers” by compelling the executive branch to spend money not appropriated by Congress.
SNAP, the largest U.S. food assistance program, serves about one in eight Americans. Officials in states such as Wisconsin, Oregon, and Hawaii had already rushed to issue full benefits Friday before the Supreme Court stepped in, while others planned to act over the weekend.
Oregon’s governor, Tina Kotek, said state employees “worked through the night” to ensure families could buy groceries. In Wisconsin, $104 million in benefits went out to over 337,000 households.
For millions of low-income Americans, the uncertainty has caused chaos. Jasmen Youngbey, a single mother in New Jersey, said she found her SNAP account at $0 Friday morning while waiting in line at a food pantry. “Not everybody has cash to pull out and say, ‘I’m going to get this,’ especially with food prices right now,” she said.
The administration has said it plans to provide only 65% of regular benefits this month, arguing that it must preserve limited funds for other child hunger programs.
The legal fight began after two judges ordered the government to use $4.6 billion from emergency reserves to fund SNAP, with the total monthly cost estimated at up to $9 billion. Trump officials appealed, warning that fast-moving states could drain the fund before the courts ruled.
With the Supreme Court’s intervention, the fate of full November payments remains unclear — and the case is now likely to shape how far the White House can go in allocating federal aid during a shutdown.
Similar news
