The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended an order blocking entire SNAP payments, amid signs the government shutdown could soon end and food aid payments resume.
It stays in place for at least a few more days in chaos. People who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to feed their families in some states received their full monthly benefits, while others received nothing.
The order will expire shortly before midnight Thursday.
The Senate approved a bill to end the lockdown, and the House of Representatives could vote on it early Wednesday. Reopening the government would restart the program that helps 42 million Americans buy groceries, but it is not clear how quickly full payments would resume.
The justices chose what was effectively the path of least resistance, anticipating that the federal government shutdown would end soon while avoiding any substantive legal ruling on whether the lower court’s orders to keep the full payments flowing during the shutdown were valid.
Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson was the only one of the nine justices to say she would have immediately revived the lower court’s orders, but she did not explain her vote otherwise. Jackson signed the initial order temporarily freezing the payments.
Beneficiaries in some states received their full monthly allowances, while they received nothing in other states. Some states have issued partial payments.
How quickly SNAP benefits reach recipients if the government reopens will vary by state. But states and advocates say it’s easier to make full payments quickly than partial payments.
There may be some technical challenges for states that have issued partial relief to send the remaining amount, said Carolyn Vega, a policy analyst at the advocacy group Share Our Strength.
Urgent need for beneficiaries
In Pennsylvania, full November benefits were disbursed to some people on Friday. But Jim Mallyard, 41, of Franklin said he had not received anything as of Monday.
Mallyard works full time to care for his blind wife, who suffered several strokes this year, and his teenage daughter, who suffered severe medical complications from surgery last year.
This stress was exacerbated by the temporary halt of the $350 a month SNAP payment he had previously received for himself, his wife and his daughter. He said he’s down to $10 in his account and is relying on what’s left in his pantry — mostly rice and ramen.
“I’ve been spending a lot of nights kind of late, making sure I have everything so I’m sure I’m right,” Mallyard said. “To say that anxiety has been my problem for the past two weeks is putting it mildly.”
The political wrangling in Washington has shocked many Americans, and some have moved to help.
“I think I’ve spent money on stupider things than trying to feed other people during an artificial famine,” said Ashley Oxenford, a teacher who set up a “mini food pantry” in her front yard this week for vulnerable neighbors in Carthage, New York.
SNAP has been the center of an intense battle in court
The Trump administration chose to cut SNAP funding after October due to the shutdown. The decision sparked lawsuits and a series of swift and contradictory court rulings that take issue with government power — and affect food access for about 1 in 8 Americans.
The administration agreed with two rulings issued on October 31 by judges who said the government must provide at least partial funding for SNAP. Ultimately, she said, beneficiaries will receive up to 65% of their regular benefits. But it balked last week when a judge said it must fully fund the program for November, even if it meant raising money the government said it needed to conserve for emergencies elsewhere.
The US Supreme Court agreed to temporarily halt this order.
The appeals court said Monday that full funding must resume, and that requirement is scheduled to begin Tuesday night before the Supreme Court extends the order blocking full SNAP payments.
Congress talks about reopening the government
The U.S. Senate on Monday passed legislation to reopen the federal government with a plan that includes replenishing SNAP funds. House Speaker Mike Johnson asked House members to return to Washington to consider the agreement concluded by a small group of Democrats in the Senate with Republicans.
President Donald Trump has not said whether he would sign it if it reaches his office, but he told reporters at the White House on Sunday that “it appears we are nearing the end of the shutdown.”
However, the Trump administration said in a Supreme Court filing on Monday that the matter should not be up to the courts.
The Attorney General, Dr. John Sawyer in the papers: “The solution to this crisis is not for federal courts to reallocate resources without legal authority.” “The only way to end this crisis – which the executive branch insists on ending – is for Congress to reopen the government.”
After Tuesday’s ruling, Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on social media: “Thank you to the court for allowing Congress to continue its rapid progress.”
A coalition of cities and nonprofit groups that challenged the SNAP moratorium said in a lawsuit Tuesday that the Agriculture Department, which administers SNAP, is to blame for the confusion.
“The chaos was sown because of USDA delays and intransigence, not because of the district court’s efforts to mitigate the chaos and the harm it caused to families in need of food,” they said.
(tags for translation) Supreme Court Ruling SNAP
