The decision, in response to a lawsuit from nonprofits and cities, comes ahead of a Saturday funding cliff for the nation’s largest anti-hunger program.
By Marcia Brown
A federal judge in Rhode Island directed the Trump administration to use emergency money to fund November food aid benefits for millions of Americans.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr.’s oral order Friday came just before the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, is set to run out of money this weekend. Trump administration officials have not yet indicated whether they will appeal the ruling.
McConnell, an Obama appointee, affirmed the complaint of several cities and nonprofits that sued USDA over its decision not to use emergency money to support food aid during the government shutdown. The move, plaintiffs argued, “needlessly plunged SNAP into crisis.”
His order went further than that of another federal judge in Massachusetts, who issued a near-simultaneous ruling Friday afternoon asking the Trump administration to decide by Monday if it would voluntarily fund at least some SNAP benefits.
“Defendants are required to use those Contingency Funds as necessary for the SNAP program,” U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, also an Obama appointee, wrote, noting that USDA can pull from multiple sources of funding to fully support November benefits.
USDA and the Office of Management and Budget did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump officials have insisted they don’t have the authority to use a $5 billion contingency fund and don’t have enough money to pay for the nearly $8 billion required for November SNAP benefits.
President Donald Trump reiterated his administration’s position in a post on Truth Social on Friday night. He confirmed that benefits will be delayed, even with the court rulings.
“I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible,” he wrote. “If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay.”
Trump officials say it could take days and, in many cases, weeks to get SNAP benefits to low-income Americans, especially since the administration has not stood up a system since the shutdown began to disperse any partial funds.
“The court’s ruling protects millions of families, seniors, and veterans from being used as leverage in a political fight and upholds the principle that no one in America should go hungry,” said Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman, co-counsel on the Rhode Island lawsuit, in a statement Friday.