US federal judge orders Trump administration to fund SNAP for November News
Joe Gratz, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
US federal judge orders Trump administration to fund SNAP for November

A Rhode Island district judge ruled on Thursday that US President Donald Trump’s administration must fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) throughout the month of November, after the program was partially suspended due to a government shutdown. The Trump administration has appealed the decision.

Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. granted the plaintiffs’ motion to enforce an existing temporary restraining order (TRO) and grant a new one against the administration in the case of Rhode Island State Council of Churches v. Rollins. He ruled that the government must use “available Section 32 funds [of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935] in combination with the contingency funds” to make “full payment of November SNAP benefits.” Judge McConnell stated:

Faced with a choice between advancing relief and entrenching delay, it chose the latter–an outcome that predictably magnifies harm and undermines the very purpose of the program it administers. Such conduct is more than poor judgment: it is arbitrary and capricious.

The first TRO ordered defendants to either “expeditiously” issue partial SNAP payments from contingency funds by November 5 or to provide full funding using Section 32 funds in addition to or in place of contingency funds. While defendants indicated that they would pursue the former option, the court found that they failed to do so in a timely manner and thereby “undermined both the intent and effectiveness” of the order.

The US government shut down on October 1 after Republicans and Democrats in the Senate failed to agree on a spending bill. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which runs SNAP, issued a memo on October 24 confirming that it would suspend benefits for November due to a lack of funding. Plaintiffs, a collection of cities, unions, and nonprofit organizations, filed a complaint on October 30 alleging that the administration had sufficient funds to continue the program and that not doing so violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

SNAP is a government-funded program that “provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget.” According to the latest data from 2024, it comprises about 70 percent of governmental nutrition assistance and serves an average of “41.7 million participants per month.”

Vice President JD Vance decried the ruling, saying: “It’s an absurd ruling because you have a federal judge effectively telling us what we have to do in the midst of a Democratic government shutdown.”

Diane Yentel, the president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, said, “I applaud the court for taking action to prevent the Trump administration from using food assistance as a political tool … this court order makes it clear that there is no excuse for the Administration’s decision to leave them without food on their tables.”

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