Judges order USDA to restart SNAP funding, but hungry families won’t get immediate relief
In separate rulings Friday, two federal judges told the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it must begin using billions of dollars in emergency funds to provide federal food aid to poor American families despite the federal shutdown, but gave the agency until Monday to decide how to do so.
Both Obama-appointed judges rejected the Trump administration’s arguments that more than $5 billion in USDA emergency funds could not legally be used to continue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for nearly 42 million Americans while the federal government is shut down. But both remained vague about exactly how the aid should be provided or when aid would arrive for millions of families set to lose benefits starting Saturday.
The two decisions came almost simultaneously on Friday.
In Massachusetts, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani stopped short of granting California and a Democrat-led coalition of 24 other states the temporary restraining order they sought. But he ruled that states would likely succeed in their argument that the USDA’s complete halt to SNAP benefits — even though it had billions of dollars in emergency funding — was illegal.
Talwani gave the USDA until Monday to say whether they would authorize “only reduced SNAP benefits” using emergency funding that does not cover the $8.5 billion to $9 billion total needed for all November benefits, according to the USDA, or whether they would authorize “full SNAP benefits using both the Emergency Funds and additional available funds.”
Separately in Rhode Island, U.S. District Judge John McConnell granted a temporary restraining order requested by nonprofits, ruling from the bench that SNAP must be funded with at least emergency funds and requesting an update on progress by Monday.
The White House referred questions about the decision to the Office of Management and Budget but did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is not yet clear whether the management will object to the decisions.
The Massachusetts order was a victory for California and other Democrat-led states that have sued over cuts to SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps, as Republicans and Democrats continue to battle over reopening the government in Washington.
But state officials emphasized that this does not mean that all SNAP recipients in the country, including 5.5 million Californians, will be spared cuts in food assistance, as state and local food banks continue to prepare for a flood of need starting Saturday.
When asked Thursday whether a ruling in the states’ favor would mean SNAP funds immediately being loaded onto CalFresh and other welfare cards, California Atty. “The answer, unfortunately, is no,” said Gen. Rob Bonta, whose office helped bring the states’ lawsuit.
“Our best guess is this: [SNAP benefit] “The cards can be loaded and used in about a week,” he said, describing this delay as “problematic”.
“There might be a week or so where people are hungry and need food,” he said. For new applicants to the program, the process may take even longer, he said.
The decisions come as the month-long closure continued on Friday, with no imminent end in sight. The Senate adjourned Thursday and has no plans to meet again until Monday.
It also comes after President Trump called on the Senate on Thursday to end the shutdown by ending the filibuster, a longstanding rule that requires 60 votes to overcome legislative objections. The rule has traditionally been favored by lawmakers as a way to block particularly partisan measures and is currently being used by Democrats to resist the will of the current 53-seat Republican majority.
“It’s time for Republicans to play their ‘LAMB’ and turn to the so-called Nuclear Option – Get rid of the Filibuster and get rid of it NOW!” Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform.
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank Chief Executive Officer Michael Flood, standing next to Bonta as California National Guard members filled food boxes behind them, said his organization was preparing for huge lines on the first Saturday of the month.
He said he expects long lines of families in need of food to form outside food distribution points in the region, just like during the height of the COVID-19 epidemic.
“This is a catastrophic type of situation for us in Los Angeles County, throughout the state of California, and across the country,” Flood said.
“In L.A. County alone, 5.5 million Californians, 1.5 million children and adults, will be left adrift and adrift — illegally, unnecessarily, morally bankrupt,” Bonta said.
Bonta blamed Trump and his administration for the shutdown, saying the USDA has billions of dollars in emergency funds designed to ensure SNAP benefits continue during emergencies, and that it is breaking the law by not tapping into those funds in the current situation.
Bonta said SNAP benefits were never cut during previous federal government shutdowns and should never be cut during this shutdown.
“This could have been prevented,” he said. “Trump created this problem”
The Trump administration has blamed the shutdown and the looming cut in SNAP benefits squarely on Democrats in Congress, who have blocked short-term spending measures to restart the government and fund SNAP. Democrats continue to pressure Republicans to repeal major cuts to subsidies that help millions of Americans afford health insurance.
White House press secretary Abigail Jackson previously told The Times that Democrats should be the ones asking “when the shutdown will end,” because “they are the ones who decided to shut down the government so they can use working Americans and SNAP benefits as ‘leverage’ to pursue their radical left agenda.”
“Americans are suffering because of Democrats,” Jackson said.
In opposing states’ request for a temporary restraining order requiring the funds to be disbursed, USDA lawyers argued that using emergency funds to cover November SNAP benefits would deplete funds meant to provide “critical support in the event of natural disasters and other uncontrollable disasters” and could actually cause further cuts to later benefits.
SNAP needs between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month, they wrote, and USDA’s emergency fund is only around $5.25 billion, meaning it wouldn’t be able to fully fund November benefits even if it released the emergency fund. Meanwhile, “a partial payment has never been made — and for good reason” because it would force each state to recalculate benefits to recipients and then readjust their systems to provide the new amounts.
They wrote that “this process, if it could be done at all, would take weeks” and would then need to be rolled back to deliver December benefits at normal levels, assuming the shutdown would have been lifted by then. “The disruption this will cause, with each state having to reprogram their systems over and over again, will lead to chaos and uncertainty for months to come, even after a bug is over,” they wrote.
They argued that immediately reinstating the benefits pause once the shutdown ends was a smarter, less disruptive course of action.
At a hearing on the states’ case Thursday, Talwani argued that existing rules require government action to prevent the pain that an all-out cut in food aid would cause, no matter what political showdowns take place between parties in Washington.
“If you don’t have money, you tighten your belt” he said in court. “You can’t drag everyone to death just because it’s a political game somewhere.”
In addition to suing the administration, California and its leaders are also rushing to make sure hungry families have something to eat in the coming days. Gov. Gavin Newsom directed $80 million to food banks to stock up on supplies and activated the National Guard to help package food for those in need.
Counties are also working to offset the need, including directing additional funding to food banks and other resource centers and seeking help from private sector partners.
Dozens of organizations in California have called on Newsom to use state funds to fully cover missing federal aid to prevent a “crisis of unthinkable magnitude,” but Newsom has suggested that’s not possible given the size of the fund.
According to the USDA, approximately 41.7 million Americans per month were served through SNAP in fiscal year 2024, at an annual cost of approximately $100 billion. More than 63% of the 5.5 million California buyers are children and seniors.
This article contains reporting from the Associated Press.
