Washington — A Rhode Island judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to provide full federal food benefits to states by Friday and admonished the government for what he said is its defiance of an earlier order.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell told Justice Department lawyers that it is “simply unacceptable” to wait any longer before providing the full payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and instead said the administration should act swiftly.
“Without SNAP funding for the month of November, 16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry,” McConnell said. “This should never happen in America.”
The judge granted a request from municipalities and nonprofit organizations to order the administration to provide the full food benefits. He declined to pause his decision, arguing that “people have gone without for too long.”
McConnell also accused the Trump administration of withholding SNAP benefits “for political reasons,” citing statements by President Trump earlier this week, in which he said the food stamp funds would only be released “when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
The Justice Department quickly appealed McConnell’s order.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which is representing the municipalities and nonprofits, praised the decision from McConnell, calling it a “major victory” for the 42 million Americans who receive food aid.
“The court could not be more clear — the Trump-Vance administration must stop playing politics with people’s lives by delaying SNAP payments they are obligated to issue,” she said in a statement.
The White House clarified that it is complying with an earlier order from McConnell that required the Trump administration to tap into a contingency fund to provide SNAP benefits for November. The USDA notified states late last month that the food aid would not go out because of the ongoing government shutdown, which entered its 37th day Thursday.
The Justice Department told the court earlier this week that the USDA would comply with the order and “fulfill its obligation to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds.” A USDA official overseeing SNAP said in a declaration Monday that roughly $4.6 billion in reserve money would be used to cover 50% of eligible households’ allotments.
The agency “intends to deplete SNAP contingency funds completely and provide reduced SNAP benefits for November,” the official, Patrick Penn, said.
He then told the court in a filing earlier Thursday that benefits will actually be reduced by 35% instead of halved after the USDA conducted further calculations. As a result, eligible Americans will receive up to 65% of their benefits, more than the initial 50% that states had been directed to implement earlier this week.
