SCOTUS Extends Trump Admin’s Hold On Full Food Stamp Payments

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday extended a short-term order allowing the Trump administration to continue withholding full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments for November — a procedural move designed to buy time as Congress works to reopen the federal government.

The Court’s unsigned order, which keeps in place an earlier “administrative stay” issued by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson last week, temporarily blocks a lower court’s demand that the administration deliver full federal food benefits. The justices extended the stay through Thursday evening, giving lawmakers additional space to finalize a government funding deal.

Jackson dissented from the extension, though she offered no written explanation.

The ruling came amid a flurry of emergency appeals surrounding SNAP, the federal food stamp program that serves over 40 million Americans. The ongoing shutdown has disrupted everything from air travel to public services, and now threatens to deepen hardship for millions of families dependent on food assistance.

Advocates for recipients told the Court earlier Tuesday that millions of Americans have already gone ten days without aid. They warned that families — particularly those with children — are struggling to afford groceries as the dispute drags on.

“Children and families across the country are struggling to eat,” one legal filing stated.

According to Code for America, about 27 million recipients were scheduled to receive benefits by Monday, with the average household relying on roughly $350 per month.

The Trump administration, however, argued that the lower-court ruling overstepped its authority by forcing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to move nearly $4 billion between accounts. Justice Department lawyers said the decision improperly “injects the federal courts into the political branches’ closing efforts to end this shutdown.”

Under a previous federal court order, the USDA had used contingency funds to issue partial SNAP payments for November. The key question before the Supreme Court is whether the administration can be compelled to pay the full amount despite the funding lapse.

The conflicting rulings have led to confusion nationwide — with 16 states providing full benefits and five others sending out only partial payments, according to CNN.

The legal dispute began when the administration announced that November SNAP payments would be suspended due to the shutdown. That prompted lawsuits in multiple states. U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island sided with recipients, calling the government’s slow response “arbitrary and capricious” and ordering the USDA to distribute full benefits.

The administration swiftly appealed to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and then to the Supreme Court, where Jackson, who handles emergency petitions from that circuit, initially paused McConnell’s ruling.

With the Supreme Court now extending that pause through Thursday, millions of low-income Americans remain in limbo — their access to food assistance caught in the crossfire of Washington’s broader shutdown fight.