A pair of federal judges ruled Friday that the Trump administration must use emergency funding to restore at least some SNAP food benefits — one day before the US Department of Agriculture had warned money for the program would run out due to the ongoing government shutdown.
The judges in Boston and Providence, RI, both said that the USDA could decide whether to fund the entitlement commonly known as food stamps in full or in part for the month of November — but a full cutoff was unlawful.
The SNAP program serves approximately 42 million Americans and costs about $8 billion per month nationally.
The Trump administration’s move to suspend SNAP food benefits for 42 million Americans has been ruled “likely unlawful” by a federal judge. AP
Leaders of 25 Democratic-run states and the District of Columbia sued the USDA in Boston federal court Tuesday after the executive agency warned that the “well has run dry” for SNAP benefits.
Senate Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have voted to reject the funding bill 13 times in hopes of forcing concessions from Republicans that would extend pandemic-era Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire Dec. 31.
The Trump administration argued that a contingency fund with about $5 billion in it set aside for emergencies could not be used even if it wanted to. The states — along with a coalition of cities and nonprofits who brought the Rhode Island case — argued not only that the money could be used, but that it had to be used under the Food and Nutrition Act, which requires that “assistance under this program shall be furnished to all eligible households.”
“There is a contingency fund at USDA, but that contingency fund, by the way, doesn’t even cover, I think half of the $9.2 billion that would be required for November SNAP,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters on Capitol Hill alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
“It is only allowed to flow if the underlying program is funded. If Hurricane Melissa or one of the hurricanes hits, that’s the contingency fund that we would use to send more money into the vulnerable communities that are harmed by a specific event, like a hurricane — but it is a contingency fund that can only flow if the underlying appropriation is approved.”
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins hold a press conference on the ongoing federal government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 31, 2025. REUTERS
However, a since-deleted Lapse in Funding Plan from the USDA made public Sept. 30 highlighted how “multi-year contingency funds” would be used to deal with the shortfall in federal monies to state SNAP agencies.
The administration argued in subsequent letters to the agencies that the $6 billion pot of funding wouldn’t be able to be used for regular monthly benefits — and that the contingency spending was designated for emergencies.
“At core, Defendants’ conclusion that USDA is statutorily prohibited from funding SNAP because Congress has not enacted new appropriations for the current fiscal year is erroneous,” Boston US District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in her 15-page order.
Talwani wrote in her order that the USDA not being allowed to fund SNAP due to the ongoing shutdown is “erroneous.” REUTERS
“To the contrary, Defendants are statutorily mandated to use the previously appropriated SNAP contingency reserve when necessary and also have discretion to use other previously appropriated funds as detailed below,” added the judge, who gave the USDA until Monday to report whether it could “authorize only reduced SNAP benefits” using money set aside to respond to natural disasters “or to authorize full SNAP benefits” using the emergency money and “additional available funds.”
Regardless of what the administration decided, Talwani wrote that there shouldn’t be “an outright suspension of the program while some funds are available.”
In Rhode Island, US District Judge John J. McConnell ruled from the bench that the SNAP program must be funded with the emergency monies and asked for a progress report from the feds by Monday.
Regardless of what the administration decided, Talwani wrote that there shouldn’t be “an outright suspension of the program while some funds are available.” Getty Images
McConnell also ruled that all previous work requirement waivers must continue to be honored after the USDA erminated existing waivers that exempted work requirements for older adults, veterans and others during the shutdown.
The Trump administration is likely to appeal both rulings and it wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the debit cards that beneficiaries use to buy groceries could be reloaded after the ruling, a process that often takes one to two weeks.
McConnell ruled from the bench that the SNAP program must be funded with the emergency monies. US District Court RI
Saturday will mark the first lapse in federal SNAP funding for 60 years, and some governors, like Kathy Hochul of New York, had declared states of emergency to ensure food pantries were stocked.
“Millions of families rely on SNAP — or food stamps — to survive,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who joined the Boston case, in a statement Friday.
“The administration tried to use the shutdown as an excuse to withhold food assistance from vulnerable Americans, but the court has made clear that the law requires those benefits to continue,” James added.
A man holds a sign reading “SNAP Feeds Families,” as food aid benefits will be suspended starting November 1 amid the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, during “A Rally for SNAP” on the steps of the Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., October 28, 2025. REUTERS
“The federal government cannot simply walk away from its obligation to feed the people it serves. We will keep fighting until every family in New York and across the nation can put food on the table.”
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To qualify for SNAP in 2025, a family of four’s net income after certain expenses can’t exceed the federal poverty line, which is about $31,000 per year.
With Post wires