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Residents in California and other states began to receive their full SNAP food aid Friday as an appeals court left in place, for now, an order requiring President Donald Trump’s administration to fund such benefits amid a U.S. government shutdown.
“Food benefits are now beginning to flow back to California families,” Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
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A judge had given the Republican administration until Friday to make the payments through SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But the administration asked the appeals court today to suspend any court orders requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund, and instead allow it to offer only partial SNAP payments for the month. “The Trump administration is literally fighting in court to block American families’ access to food,” Newsom said.
California had joined 22 other states in filing the lawsuit at the heart of the case, claiming that the administration’s refusal to fund SNAP benefits — called CalFresh in California — during the federal government shutdown was unlawful.
After the appeals court declined to do so, the Trump administration quickly asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its request.
But NBC News reported that it obtained a memo from Patrick Penn, the deputy undersecretary of the Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, in which he told states that the administration “will complete the processes necessary” to issue full SNAP benefits for the time being, with funds potentially available late Friday.
The food program serves about 1 in 8 Americans, mostly with lower incomes.
Officials in at least a half-dozen states confirmed to AP that some SNAP recipients already were issued full November payments on Friday.
In addition to California, Wisconsin, Oregon, Kansas, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania all said they moved quickly to issue full SNAP benefits Friday, while other states said they expected full benefits to arrive over the weekend or early next week. Still others said they were waiting for further federal guidance.
The court wrangling prolonged weeks of uncertainty for Americans with lower incomes.
An individual can receive a monthly maximum food benefit of nearly $300 and a family of four up to nearly $1,000, although many receive less than that under a formula that takes into consideration their income.
The legal battle over SNAP takes another twist
Because of the federal government shutdown, the Trump administration originally had said SNAP benefits would not be available in November. However, two judges ruled last week that the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely because of the shutdown. One of those judges was U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr., who ordered the full payments Thursday.
In both cases, the judges ordered the government to use one emergency reserve fund containing more than $4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments, which cost between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month.
On Monday, the administration said it would not use additional money, saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the program and that the other money was needed to shore up other child hunger programs.
Thursday’s federal court order rejected the Trump administration’s decision to cover only 65% of the maximum monthly benefit, a decision that could have left some recipients getting nothing for this month.
In its court filing Friday, Trump’s administration contended that Thursday’s directive to fund full SNAP benefits runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution.
“This unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers. Courts hold neither the power to appropriate nor the power to spend,” the U.S. Department of Justice wrote in its request to the court.
In response, attorneys for the cities and nonprofits challenging Trump’s administration said the government has plenty of available money and the court should “not allow them to further delay getting vital food assistance to individuals and families who need it now.”
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