Trump administration appeals ruling to fully fund SNAP program
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Trump administration He asked the federal appeals court on Friday to block for now the lower court’s ruling requiring the nation to fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance program by the end of the day.
Justice Department lawyers asked the First Circuit Court of Appeals to temporarily stay a preliminary injunction issued a day earlier by a federal judge in Rhode Island. The appeal is the latest in an ongoing court fight over the food assistance program that funds 42 million low-income Americans.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell on Thursday ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allocate $4 billion in alternative emergency funds as needed to fully fund the SNAP program through November, noting the urgency and need for distribution of food aid.
The judge also chastised the Trump administration for agreeing to fund only 65% of SNAP benefits. “SNAP recipients are likely to be hungry as we sit here,” McConnell said Thursday, shortly before issuing the new order giving the USDA less than 24 hours to comply.
FEDERAL JUDGE MUST FULLY FUND TRUMP’S SNAP PROGRAM BY FRIDAY
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, provides federal food assistance to more than 40 million Americans each month. (Olivianna Calmes/Fox News)
In their filing with the First Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, Trump’s legal team argued that the lower court decision “makes a mockery of the separation of powers” and accused McConnell of overstepping his authority as a federal judge.
“There is no legal basis for an order directing the USDA to somehow find $4 billion in metaphorical couch cushions,” Justice Department lawyers said, describing the order as an “unprecedented measure” and one that “makes a mockery of the separation of powers.”
TWO JUDGES RULE THAT TRUMP ADMIN SHOULD KEEP SNAP BENEFITS IN PLACE WHEN THE SHUTDOWN IS LAST
An EBT sign is displayed in a grocery store window in the Flatbush neighborhood of New York City’s Brooklyn borough on October 30, 2025. Approximately 42 million Americans are expected to lose access to these benefits. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“Of course it is a crisis, but it is a crisis resulting from congressional failure, and that can only be resolved by congressional action,” they added.
On Thursday, McConnell also said the Trump administration had not complied with his original order last week; This order required USDA to fund SNAP benefits, which are scheduled to expire on November 1, for the first time in the program’s 60-year history.
USDA data show that more than 41 million Americans use SNAP, and the states with the highest participation rates are New Mexico, Oregon and Louisiana. (Olivianna Calmes/Fox News)
CLICK TO REACH THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
The government “did nothing to ensure the money was paid on Wednesday,” he said.
The judge also said Trump officials failed to resolve a known fund distribution problem that could have caused SNAP payments to be delayed for weeks or months in some states.
