Two federal judges have mandated that the USDA utilize emergency reserves to maintain SNAP benefit distribution amid the ongoing government shutdown.
Two federal courts have ruled that the Trump administration cannot leverage the government shutdown to halt essential food aid for 42 million Americans. Yet, as Saturday arrived—the deadline for disbursement—President Donald Trump appeared to disregard the judicial order, potentially leaving millions without the means to cover their grocery expenses this month.
On Friday, federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island determined that the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) suspension of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits was illegal. They ordered the department to immediately access a $6 billion emergency contingency fund to cover at least a portion of the nearly $8 billion expected to be paid out this month.
“There is no doubt that the six billion dollars in contingency funds are appropriated funds that are without a doubt necessary to carry out the program’s operation,” stated U.S. District Judge McConnell of Rhode Island during his oral decision. “The shutdown of the government through funding doesn’t do away with SNAP. It just does away with the funding of it. There could be no greater necessity than the prohibition across the board of funds for the program’s operations.”
McConnell further emphasized: “There is no doubt, and it is beyond argument, that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn’t already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food for their family.”
SNAP eligibility is limited to individuals earning less than 130% of the federal poverty level. Currently, over 1 in 8 Americans utilizes the program, with 39% of participants being children. According to USDA data referenced by the Washington Post, recipients depend on SNAP for approximately 63% of their food, while the poorest participants—earning below 50% of the poverty line—rely on it for up to 80%.
Judge McConnell rejected the administration’s argument that the reserves might be needed for a theoretical future crisis, asserting, “It’s clear that when compared to the millions of people that will go without funds for food versus the agency’s desire not to use contingency funds in case there’s a hurricane need, the balances of those equities clearly goes on the side of ensuring that people are fed.”
While Massachusetts Judge Indira Talwani ordered the administration to use the contingency fund to cover as much of the program as possible, McConnell extended the requirement. He insisted they must also locate additional funding sources to ensure full benefit disbursement “as soon as possible.” Both judges set a Monday deadline for the administration to report its compliance plans.
However, following Friday’s ruling, Trump took to social media, claiming that “government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available, and now two courts have issued conflicting opinions on what we can and cannot do.”
He continued: “I do NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT. Therefore, I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.”
Miles Mogulescu, an attorney and activist, noted in Common Dreams that, “until a few days ago, even the Trump administration agreed that these funds should be used to continue SNAP funding during the shutdown.”
On September 30, just before the shutdown commenced, the USDA had posted a 55-page “Lapse of Funding” plan online. This document explicitly confirmed that in the event of a shutdown, “the department will continue operations related to… core nutrition safety net programs.”
Yet, earlier this week, the USDA abruptly removed that file, replacing it with a new memo detailing an entirely different legal stance. The new document asserts that “due to Congressional Democrats’ refusal to pass a clean continuing resolution (CR), approximately 42 million individuals will not receive SNAP benefits come November 1st.”
Mogulescu observed: “The new memo cited absolutely no law supporting its position. Instead, it made up a rule claiming that the ‘contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exist.’”
Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and a former White House OMB official, stated last week that the claim that the administration is powerless to act is “unequivocally false.”
“I know from experience that the federal government has the authority and the tools it needs during a shutdown to get these SNAP funds to families,” Parrott stated. “Even at this late date, the professionals at the Department of Agriculture and in states can make this happen. And, to state the obvious, benefits that are a couple of days delayed are far more help to families than going without any help at all.”
She added: “The administration itself admits these reserves are available for use. It could have, and should have, taken steps weeks ago to be ready to use these funds. Instead, it may choose not to use them in an effort to gain political advantage.”
In an attempt to pressure Democrats into abandoning requests for Congress to extend a vital Affordable Care Act tax credit—thereby preventing insurance premium hikes for over 20 million Americans—Republicans appear to be utilizing the shutdown to inflict maximum distress on the electorate.
Trump has also attempted to execute mass layoffs of federal employees, a move currently halted by a federal judge. Concurrently, OMB Director Russell Vought has rescinded funding for transportation and energy infrastructure projects targeted at Democratic cities and states.
“Terminating SNAP is a choice, and an overtly unlawful one at that,” says David Super, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown University. “The administration has chosen to hold food for more than forty million vulnerable people hostage to try to force Democrats to capitulate without negotiations.”