President Donald Trump’s administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a lower court order requiring the federal government to issue full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments for November, escalating the legal fight over food aid during the ongoing government shutdown.
The appeal came Friday after an appellate court refused to suspend the order, which directed the administration to release the full monthly benefits despite limited contingency funds. The Trump administration argued that complying with the directive would unlawfully compel it to spend money not appropriated by Congress.
In its Supreme Court filing, Solicitor General D. John Sauer warned that several states were “trying to seize what they could of the agency’s finite set of remaining funds, before any appeal could even be filed,” adding that “once those billions are out the door, there is no ready mechanism for the government to recover those funds.”
The SNAP program, which provides food assistance to about one in eight Americans, has become the latest flashpoint in the broader budget standoff between the White House and congressional Democrats. A federal judge had ruled Thursday that the administration must pay the full November benefits, rejecting its plan to issue only 65% of the monthly allotment.
Despite the pending appeal, some states moved swiftly to distribute the full benefits. Officials in California, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Hawaii confirmed that payments were already being processed for millions of residents. Wisconsin released over $104 million in food aid to roughly 337,000 households shortly after midnight Friday.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said state employees “worked through the night” to ensure families could access food by Friday. Hawaii also submitted its payment requests early to avoid a potential freeze by the Supreme Court. “We moved with haste once we verified everything,” said Joseph Campos II of Hawaii’s Department of Human Services.
Other states, including New York, Colorado, and Massachusetts, announced that full SNAP benefits could be available by the weekend, while North Carolina and Illinois issued partial payments as they awaited further guidance. Delaware’s Gov. Matt Meyer said his state used its own funds to provide emergency weekly food assistance.
The administration’s Supreme Court request follows weeks of uncertainty for millions of low-income households. SNAP recipients can receive up to nearly $300 monthly for individuals and around $1,000 for a family of four, depending on income. For many, those funds are essential.
In Newark, New Jersey, single mother and college student Jasmen Youngbey said she was down to a zero balance before her SNAP benefits arrived late Friday. “Not everybody has cash to pull out and say, ‘OK, I’m going to go and get this,’ especially with the cost of food right now,” she said. Another resident, Tihinna Franklin, said she had only nine cents left on her card. “If I don’t get it, I won’t be eating,” she said.
The administration had initially said SNAP funds would not be available in November due to the shutdown, but two judges ruled otherwise, ordering it to use an emergency reserve fund containing more than $4.6 billion and other available funds to make full payments costing between $8.5 billion and $9 billion.
Calling the rulings unconstitutional, the Justice Department argued that the judiciary had “made a mockery of the separation of powers” by forcing the executive branch to spend unappropriated funds. Attorneys for cities and nonprofits challenging the administration disagreed, saying the government had the money and should not delay critical food aid.
As the legal battle reaches the nation’s highest court, millions of Americans remain caught in the middle—waiting for clarity on whether they will continue to receive the food assistance that helps them get by.
