Some Americans are beginning to see this month's SNAP food benefits restored. The Trump administration says it's sending states money to fully fund them even as it appeals a new court order to pay for them. U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. ordered the government to restart the country's largest anti-hunger program by Friday.
Shortly after that decision Thursday afternoon, a growing number of states started to announce they would be issuing full SNAP benefits. The list includes California, Oregon, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Some people woke up today with the money already on the debit-like EBT cards they use to buy groceries.
Trump administration officials on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in its bid to block the release of SNAP payments for the millions of Americans in need of food assistance. The move came after an appeals court earlier on Friday rejected a request from the government to halt orders requiring them to issue SNAP payments.
Funding for the nation's largest anti-hunger program ran out a week ago, as the federal shutdown entered its second month. States, cities and food banks have been ramping up donations desperately trying to fill the gap. Nearly 42 million people rely on SNAP, most of them extremely low-income families with children, along with seniors, or people with disabilities.
In his order, Judge McConnell admonished the government for deciding earlier in the week to make only partial SNAP payments. He said officials failed to consider the "needless suffering" that would cause millions of people who rely on that aid. He also suggested they had delayed the partial payments for "political reasons."
The administration had said it did not have enough emergency funds to cover full payments because of the ongoing federal shutdown. In appealing the new order, officials argue that it's up to Congress to provide more SNAP funding. And they say shifting money from elsewhere, as the judge directed, would only harm other child nutrition programs.
"There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions," the government wrote in a court filing.
Earlier this week, the Agriculture Department tapped about $4 billion in a contingency fund for SNAP, which only covers about half the program's monthly budget. It had directed states to recalculate partial payments, a complicated process some complained could take weeks.
The administration had asked the court to block full payments while its appeal played out. The appeals court denied that, and Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department has filed for an emergency stay with the U.S. Supreme Court.
But events seemed to overtake that move Friday, as more and more states told residents they would soon receive their full SNAP benefits.
One anti-hunger advocacy group welcomed the end of a "long, chaotic, and unnecessary delay" to this month's benefits.
"The Trump administration all along had both the power and the authority to ensure that SNAP benefits continued uninterrupted but chose not to act until a court order forced it to do so," said Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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