As previously reported, on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell ordered the administration to cough up full November SNAP benefits by Friday. But instead of following through, the administration ran straight to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, asking for an emergency block on that ruling.
The White House wants to pay only 65% of what’s owed to families relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps. Officials say they’ll use money from a contingency fund to cover that amount, just like they proposed earlier this week.
However, Judge McConnell wasn’t having it. He told the administration to dig deeper, tapping into something called Section 32 funds which is a pot of cash usually meant to support farm products to make sure folks get every dollar they’re entitled to.
“People have gone without for too long,” McConnell said during Thursday’s hearing.
He didn’t mince words in his written order either, calling out the government’s mixed messages.
“While the President of the United States professes a commitment to helping those it serves, the government’s actions tell a different story,” he wrote
The courtroom drama comes as the federal government remains shut down—since October 1—because Congress can’t agree on a temporary funding bill. SNAP is one of the programs caught in the crossfire.
Previous administrations have always made sure SNAP checks went out during shutdowns. But Trump officials warned last week they planned to completely halt payments this month, claiming there’s no money currently appropriated by Congress to fund the program.
McConnell had already ordered partial payments from the contingency fund back on October 31 and told the administration to look for more money to fill the gap. On Monday, they said they’d cover 50%. By Wednesday, they upped it to 65%.
As of Friday morning, the appeals court gave plaintiffs until noon Eastern to respond to the government’s emergency motion.
For now, millions of low-income families are caught in the middle, waiting to find out if next week’s grocery trip will actually happen or if Washington gridlock means they’ll be skipping meals instead.
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