A pair of federal judges in separate rulings said SNAP benefits must continue despite the ongoing government shutdown.
Florida Democrats, who could not convince Gov. Ron DeSantis to step in to provide food aid being lost due to the government shutdown, hailed a pair of federal court rulings late Friday that may allow the aid to flow again.
But, they also warned it wasn’t enough to ensure food security for the nearly 3 million state residents who rely on the program.
A federal judge in Boston ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s plan to pause a food assistance program for nearly 42 million people was illegal — but gave the Trump administration until Monday to respond to her finding before she decides on a motion to force the benefits be paid despite the ongoing government shutdown.
At nearly the same time Friday, a Rhode Island federal judge in a similar case brought by cities and nonprofit groups ordered the United States Department of Agriculture to continue payments and granted a request for a temporary restraining order.
Speaking on a Zoom conference call organized by the group Sabotaging Our Safety, state Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, said he was grateful for the judicial intervention but he cautioned that it was “only a temporary fix.”
State Sen. Shevrin Jones. (Photo via Florida Senate)
“We’re talking about a fund that could run dry in what, less than a month? Then that’s not stability, that’s survival,” he said.
The USDA last week posted a notice saying SNAP benefits would expire Nov. 1 and put the blame on Democrats for not agreeing to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded.
Democrats are against passing a funding plan that doesn’t extend the enhanced premium tax credits that lower the costs of so-called Obamacare plans purchased through the federal health exchange (healthcare.gov).
The partisan impasse has resulted in a month-long government shutdown.
“The best way for SNAP to continue is for the shutdown to end. If not for Congressional Democrats blocking government funding, November SNAP benefits would be paid on-time,” the USDA notice, first reported by Axios, notes.
SNAP has about $6 billion in contingency funds; $9 billion is needed to cover the costs of the program through November. But the federal memo says that SNAP contingency funds cannot be used to float the program during the shutdown.
The federal judges authoring Friday’s court orders disagreed with the USDA’s argument that contingency funds couldn’t be used.
SNAP provides nutritional support for low-income seniors, people with disabilities living on fixed incomes, and other individuals and families with low incomes. Florida has the fourth largest SNAP enrollment nationwide with 2.94 million relying on the assistance for their food security, behind California, Texas, and New York.
Nationwide, 41.7 million people rely on SNAP benefits, August 2025 data show.
“I know they want this plane to come in for a landing, but let’s be clear,” Jones continued. “Right now, the White House, the House, the Senate and the courts are run by the Republican Party. They have the power – right now – to ensure that millions of Floridians – not only don’t go hungry, but they do not lose their health care. And the fact right now that Democrats are holding the line right now, for the fact to ensure that we don’t have a nation of sick people, I will continue to push the line that the federal government should do what’s right and feed the American people and stop bargaining with people’s lives.”
“Cruelty is the point”
State Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, joined Jones on the Zoom call and said she was “happy and grateful” with the court rulings. But she worries that the administration will appeal the rulings.
“Because at this point, cruelty is the point, right?” she said.
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Florida legislative Democrats sent DeSantis a letter earlier this week calling on him to declare a state of emergency over the impending loss of SNAP benefits and dip into the state’s “rainy day” fund to help cover the costs of the program. They also asked DeSantis to direct the Department of Children and Families to work to distribute food to local food banks and their partners.
DeSantis dismissed that request a day later.
“Did those Democrats write a letter to Chuck Schumer asking him to stop filibustering the spending?” DeSantis responded at a Tampa press conference on Wednesday. “Come on.”
Meanwhile, Florida’s congressional Democrats also hailed the Friday rulings
U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democrat from Miami Gardens, called the ruling “good news and shows Republicans chose to illegally stop SNAP benefits this November.”
“The USDA must follow the court order and keep families fed. Now, Congress needs to come back to work, end the shutdown and save healthcare,” Wilson continued.
U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, an Orlando Democrat, posted in part “Mr. President, the cruelty stops here. Food for our people should never be a political bargaining chip,” in responding to the ruling.
In a video posted to social media, U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a West Palm Beach Democrat, called on Trump to think of the people in Palm Beach County, where he lives.
While Congressional Democrats took to social media to comment on the ruling, their Republican colleagues did not, instead calling on Democrats to play their role in ending the shutdown.
“Republicans are ready to reopen the government. Why aren’t Dems?” U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Naples, posted.
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Phoenix reporters Mitch Perry, Christine Sexton, and Jay Waagmeester contributed to this report.