The U.S. Supreme Court has granted permission to the Trump administration to temporarily withhold approximately $4 billion required to fully finance a food assistance program benefiting 42 million low-income Americans. This decision allows additional time for a lower court to review the administration’s request to partially fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for November. The stay, issued by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, is set to expire in two days.
The administration had urgently requested the Supreme Court to delay a ruling by a judge in Rhode Island, which mandated full funding for the program by a certain deadline. The judge’s decision followed the administration’s commitment to provide emergency funding of $4.65 billion to cover part of the SNAP benefits for November, leaving a funding gap of around $4 billion.
In response to the lower court’s ruling, the U.S. Department of Justice argued that complying with the order would cause “shutdown chaos” and emphasized the need for judicial intervention. The judge had directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to utilize emergency SNAP funding and funds from another program with a budget of $23.35 billion to bridge the financial deficit.
The judge, appointed by former President Barack Obama, accused the Trump administration of withholding SNAP benefits for political motives. Legal challengers, including cities and non-profit organizations represented by Democracy Forward, welcomed the ruling, prompting the administration to seek a halt to the order from the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Despite the denial of the administration’s request by the 1st Circuit, the Justice Department sought emergency relief from the Supreme Court, leading to the recent administrative stay. The plaintiffs have emphasized the urgency of providing essential food assistance to millions of Americans in need, urging the courts to uphold the lower court’s decision.