A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump Administration to fully fund SNAP benefits by Friday.
US District Judge John McConnell, an Obama appointee, scolded DOJ lawyers on Thursday during a hearing and ordered the Trump Administration to fully deliver the SNAP benefits to states by Friday.
“The evidence shows that people will go hungry, food pantries will be overburdened and needless suffering will occur,” Judge McConnell said to the DOJ lawyer. “Last weekend, SNAP benefits lapsed for the first time in our nation’s history. This is a problem that could have and should have been avoided.”
Today is day 37 of the Schumer Shutdown, and a court showdown unfolded as the funds for food stamp benefits were set to begin drying up on November 1.
More than 40 million Americans rely on SNAP benefits, and the $5 billion emergency fund was not enough to cover the program for November.
Unions and nonprofit groups filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture last week ahead of the November 1 cutoff.
Last Friday, Judge McConnell ordered Trump to use the emergency funds for the SNAP program; at the same time, a separate Obama-appointed judge ruled the USDA has the power to fund SNAP benefits.
President Trump was then prompted to ask the court to clarify the ruling.
The Trump Administration vowed to partially cover SNAP benefits, but Judge McConnell ordered the government to fully fund SNAP by tomorrow.
The judge ordered the Trump Admin to take funding for child nutrition programs and redirect it to the overwhelmingly lazy SNAP recipients.
Judge literally ordering Trump Administration to take food out of mouths of babies because Democrats shutdown government. pic.twitter.com/uHgwizcbSO
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) November 6, 2025
Excerpt from NBC News:
A federal judge in Rhode Island has ordered the Trump administration to deliver SNAP payments in full to states by Friday.
The order, which U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued Thursday afternoon, followed two weeks of chaos and confusion about the fate of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, during the government shutdown.
At a hearing Thursday, the Trump administration said it had complied with the judge’s order and argued that the reason people have not received their SNAP benefits is that states have not distributed them. Tyler Becker, counsel to the assistant attorney general, said the partial benefits were released to states on Monday, adding that “this is a state problem.”
But McConnell said the Trump administration “did nothing to ensure” that SNAP benefits would be delivered this week. He ordered the administration to use the funding for child nutrition programs, known as Section 32 funding, in addition to the contingency funds to make sure payments are delivered in full.
Update: The Trump Administration appealed the judge’s order.
JUST IN: Trump administration appeals order to pay states full SNAP benefits for November. https://t.co/u1SkdHPmFW
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) November 6, 2025
