A federal judge on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to fully fund November’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, bringing short-term relief to millions of Americans who depend on the program. The ruling came after the administration attempted to issue only partial payments during what has become the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Hours after the decision, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an appeal, again placing the stability of the nation’s largest anti-hunger program in jeopardy.
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) strongly condemned the administration’s decision to fight the ruling. “I have never seen an American president so desperate to force children and seniors to go hungry,” Murray said. “Donald Trump is appealing a federal court’s order requiring him to pay the full SNAP benefits for this month. This is as ugly and cruel as it gets.”
Judge John McConnell of the District of Rhode Island, appointed by former President Barack Obama, had previously given the U.S. Department of Agriculture a choice between issuing partial payments using a contingency fund or fully covering benefits through other sources. The USDA chose to fund only part of the program and warned that it could take weeks to get reduced benefits to recipients, millions of whom would lose aid altogether. On Tuesday, Trump suggested the administration would withhold all SNAP benefits until Democrats voted to end the shutdown. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later stated that “the administration is fully complying with the court order” and that “the president is referring to future SNAP payments.”
Lawyers representing municipalities, nonprofits, and labor groups behind the lawsuit that led to McConnell’s original order filed an emergency motion seeking additional relief. McConnell agreed, finding the government’s plan inconsistent with his previous directive and ruling that it had ignored the human consequences. “Last weekend, SNAP benefits lapsed for the first time in our nation’s history,” McConnell said. “This is a problem that could have and should have been avoided.”
“The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund SNAP,” he continued. “They knew that there would be a long delay in paying partial SNAP payments and failed to consider the harms individuals who rely on those benefits would suffer.” McConnell also noted that Trump’s public post “stated his intent to defy the court order.”
An analysis published Wednesday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that the USDA’s partial-payment plan would cut benefits by an average of 61 percent, far deeper than necessary to remain within the contingency fund’s limits. The analysis showed that about 1.2 million low-income households with roughly 5 million people would receive no benefits at all for November. The average SNAP recipient receives around $180 a month, about $6 per day.
“Nearly 5.4 million households with one or two members will receive a minimum benefit of $12 for November,” the CBPP stated. “This appears to violate SNAP’s regulations, which require these households to receive the typical minimum benefit of $24 unless benefits are cancelled, suspended entirely, or reduced by more than 90%.” The organization added, “By cutting benefits even more deeply than necessary, the administration—which previously argued (contrary to federal law and the administration’s own prior practice) that SNAP’s contingency funds aren’t legally available to cover regular benefits—has once again gone out of its way to inflict further harm on low-income families.”
Leor Tal, campaign director for Unrig Our Economy, said the administration’s actions had caused avoidable suffering. “Families have already suffered enough, going nearly a week without SNAP. They don’t deserve all of this whiplash from Republicans over the food they need to survive,” Tal said. “Republicans have caused the longest-ever government shutdown by refusing to permanently extend cost-saving healthcare tax credits that millions of Americans rely on to afford health coverage. Now, they are fighting tooth and nail to avoid fully funding SNAP and feeding hungry families and children. Who does that? We need Republicans in Congress to restore full SNAP benefits now, save Americans’ healthcare, and end the government shutdown.”
Advocates for food security and anti-poverty groups praised the court’s order. Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, whose organization represents the plaintiffs alongside the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island, said the ruling was “a major victory for 42 million people in America.”
“The court could not be more clear—the Trump-Vance administration must stop playing politics with people’s lives by delaying SNAP payments they are obligated to issue,” Perryman said. “This immoral and unlawful decision by the administration has shamefully delayed SNAP payments, taking food off the table of hungry families.”
“We shouldn’t have to force the president to care for his citizens, but we will do whatever is necessary to protect people and communities,” she continued. “We are honored to represent our brave clients and to have secured this major victory for those who deserve better than what this administration has done to them.”
U.S. House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-Minn.) also welcomed the decision and condemned the administration’s handling of the issue. “As we’ve said from the beginning, the Trump administration has the money and the power to fully fund SNAP in November. They chose to ignore the harm caused by their actions and cut benefits instead,” Craig said. “President Trump and USDA need to do the right thing and comply with the court ruling rather than further delay food assistance from reaching 42 million Americans in need. It is truly shocking and demoralizing just how far President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins have gone to take food out of the mouths of American children, seniors, working parents, veterans, and people with disabilities.”
The Food Research & Action Center’s president, Crystal FitzSimons, warned that partial funding would create chaos for states and harm families. “There is no excuse that justifies the administration delaying the release of benefits and then choosing not to utilize every resource available to provide full benefits,” FitzSimons said. “The decision to provide only partial benefits forces state agencies to scramble under unclear guidance, which will further delay benefits. It also means that families are missing out on much needed nutrition support. Enough time has already been lost—the funds must be released immediately to avert further harm, chaos, and confusion.”
Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) emphasized that partial payments do not meet families’ needs. “Families can’t pay half of the bill at the grocery store or make half of a meal to feed their kids,” Jayapal said. “Americans deserve their full SNAP benefits.”
The Justice Department’s appeal has left millions uncertain whether they will receive full payments. McConnell’s ruling underscored the scale of the crisis, marking the first lapse of SNAP benefits in U.S. history. For the millions of children, seniors, and working families who depend on the program, each delay means one more day without food on the table.
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