A federal judge on Thursday issued a court order mandating that the Trump administration must fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November by Friday, rejecting the administration’s proposal to provide only reduced payments to approximately 42 million low-income Americans during the ongoing government shutdown.
This is the first time in U.S. history that SNAP payments have been halted. One in eight Americans uses SNAP benefits.
The Trump administration initially announced in October that it would completely halt SNAP payments beginning November 1 due to the federal shutdown, which has now extended into its fifth week. Following intervention from two federal judges, the administration agreed to provide only partial payments—first proposing 50 percent of normal benefits, then revising that to approximately 65 percent.
The judge directly referenced President Trump’s public statements regarding SNAP, noting that Trump had suggested food assistance would only be provided once the government shutdown concluded. McConnell characterized this as demonstrating “an intent to defy the court order.”
“Without SNAP funding for the month of November, 16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry,” McConnell emphasized. “Children are immediately at risk of going hungry. This should never happen in America.”
Vice President JD Vance responded to the ruling by calling it “an absurd ruling,” arguing that a federal judge should not dictate to the White House how to manage the shutdown.
Administrative delays may prevent beneficiaries from immediately receiving the full payment on their electronic benefit transfer cards, though the directive expedites funding compared to the administration’s original proposal.
The Justice Department announced Thursday evening that it intends to appeal McConnell’s order.
Despite the appeal, the White House indicated it would comply with McConnell’s immediate directive, though it cautioned that processing full payments would require time to complete administratively.
