Trump administration fights court ruling to pay food assistance to 42 million amid shutdown

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Nov 07, 2025 7:40 AM EST | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

A national justice has ordered U.S. President Donald Trump's medication to afloat money this month's nutrient assistance for 42 cardinal low-income Americans by Friday, blocking its program to lone supply reduced benefits during the record-long authorities shutdown.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell successful Providence, R.I., accused the medication connected Thursday of withholding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, known arsenic SNAP oregon nutrient stamps, for "political reasons" arsenic helium ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to money the programme truthful radical get 100 per cent of their benefits.

"The grounds shows that radical volition spell hungry, nutrient pantries volition beryllium overburdened, and needless suffering volition occur," McConnell said during a virtual tribunal proceeding connected Thursday. "That's what irreparable harm present means."

The Trump medication rapidly moved to entreaty McConnell's decision, which stunned Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington.

"I person ne'er seen an American President so desperate to unit children and seniors to spell hungry," Murray said connected societal media. "Donald Trump is appealing a national court's bid requiring him to wage the afloat SNAP benefits for this month. This is arsenic disfigured and cruel arsenic it gets."

Trump's medication asked a national appeals tribunal connected Friday to suspend immoderate tribunal orders requiring it to walk much wealth than is disposable successful a contingency fund.

The tribunal filing came adjacent arsenic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers's spokesperson said connected Friday that immoderate SNAP recipients successful his authorities had already received their afloat November payments overnight connected Thursday.

The entreaty wide leaves it unclear whether SNAP benefits would yet beryllium paid retired to each eligible Americans.

'Absurd ruling': Vance

The medication lashed retired astatine the ruling. A USDA spokesperson successful a connection said Senate Democrats were the ones to blasted for compromising SNAP by voting 14 times against a Republican-backed stopgap backing measurement that would extremity the authorities shutdown, which is present successful its 37th day.

Vice-President JD Vance, calling it an "absurd ruling," gave mixed signals connected however the authorities would proceed.

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance speaks adjacent to President Donald Trump connected Thursday successful the East Room of the White House successful Washington, D.C. (Nathan Howard/Reuters)

"In the midst of a shutdown, we can't person a national tribunal telling the president however helium has to triage the situation," helium said astatine the White House.

"We're not going to bash it nether the orders of a national judge, we're going to bash it according to what we deliberation we person to bash to comply with the law, of course, but besides to really marque the authorities enactment for the radical successful the midst of the Democratic authorities shutdown," Vance added.

The Republicans, Democrats constituent out, power the White House, Senate and House. A Senate backing measure requires 60 votes to pass, however, meaning the Republicans with their 53-47 vantage would request respective votes from their counterparts.

Back and distant with the courts

SNAP benefits are paid retired monthly to eligible Americans whose income is little than 130 per cent of the national poorness line.

States grip the day-to-day medication of the benefits. The maximum monthly payment for the 2026 fiscal twelvemonth had been acceptable astatine $298 US for a one-person household and $546 for a two-person one.

The medication had primitively planned to wholly suspend SNAP benefits successful November, citing a deficiency of authorized backing from Congress arsenic a effect of the authorities shutdown.

A motion hangs astatine a lawsuit work country connected Monday astatine a market communicative successful Long Beach, N.Y., indicating that the shutdown has impacted services. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

McConnell and different justice successful Boston proceeding a related lawsuit by Democratic-led states past week ruled the medication was required to astatine slightest pat $5.25 cardinal US successful exigency backing to partially money SNAP benefits, which outgo $8.5 cardinal to $9 cardinal per month.

Last week, McConnell gave the Trump medication the enactment of either utilizing the contingency backing erstwhile it resolved the "administrative and clerical burdens" progressive successful paying reduced benefits oregon tapping further backing to afloat wage retired November's SNAP benefits.

In airy of his ruling, the USDA opted connected Monday to lone usage contingency funding, which aft subtracting $600 cardinal for the states' administrative costs successful administering SNAP benefits would permission $4.65 cardinal to screen benefits.

The USDA initially said that maximum allotments would beryllium arsenic a effect chopped by 50 per cent, but updated is calculations precocious connected Tuesday to accidental they were being reduced by 35 per cent.

The administration's determination to lone partially money SNAP has fuelled uncertainty astir however overmuch and erstwhile households volition person their monthly nutrient aid, prompting states to promote SNAP recipients to fund and sojourn nutrient pantries.

McConnell, an appointee of erstwhile Democratic president Barack Obama, said successful going that route, USDA failed to code a known occupation and that successful immoderate states it could instrumentality weeks oregon months to alteration antiquated machine systems to process the reduced benefits, which has ne'er been done before.

A radical of Democratic-led states successful the related lawsuit successful Boston reported earlier connected Thursday that Minnesota had determined it would instrumentality astatine slightest six weeks to rewrite its machine systems to process the reduced benefits, and Pennsylvania would request astatine slightest 9 to 12 days to restructure its system.

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McConnell agreed with lawyers for the cities and non-profits astatine the wide ineligible radical Democracy Forward, which had sued implicit the suspension of SNAP benefits, that the USDA had failed to code the administrative burdens that partial benefits entailed and that arsenic a effect it needed to pat a $23.35 cardinal money derived from tariffs that has been utilized for kid nutrition programs.

In uncovering the medication had failed to comply with his earlier order, McConnell pointed to a caller connection Trump had made connected societal media that SNAP benefits would lone beryllium paid erstwhile the shutdown ended, which helium said reflected the president's "intent to defy the tribunal order."

"Last weekend, SNAP benefits lapsed for the archetypal clip successful our nation's history," McConnell said. "This is simply a occupation that could person and should person been avoided."