October 31, 2025
SNAP benefits must go out. And the Trump administration must figure out how to make it happen – like right now …and withholding those SNAP benefits is likely illegal. That’s according to not one but two federal judges.
As you know – because of this government shutdown the federal government cannot spending new money – on anything including snap – which used to be called food stamps. That means November 1st – tomorrow – those food benefits will not go out to 42 million Americans. But – there is an emergency fund or what’s called a “contingency fund” for snap. We’re talking about $5.5 billion that’s already just sitting there and meant to be used in an emergency. The Trump administration’s Agriculture Department has put out a notice saying that they will not use that contingency fund right now because they believe the contingency fund can only be used for natural disaster emergencies –like a hurricane — not because of a government shutdown.
Well – 25 blue state governors and Washington DC sued the Trump administration in Massachusetts federal court over that decision. And separately a bunch of cities and charitable and business organizations sued the Trump administration in Rhode Island federal court over the same decision. They all argue that the Trump administration while this government has been shutdown — was able to “find” some money to fund the WIC food assistance programs for mothers and infants and found money to pay the military – they should also find some money to fund the snap program and what they’re doing is choosing to withhold it. The plaintiffs took their arguments a step further saying that the Trump administration is not legally allowed to refuse funds for SNAP.
Today – the federal judge in Rhode Island thought it was such an emergency that he ruled from the bench. He issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from blocking that contingency fund. Basically the judge said use that money to get SNAP benefits out. And the judge ruled that if that contingency fund is not enough to cover the entire $8 to 9 billion dollar snap monthly bill, then the trump administration needs to get creative to find a way to pay it out…just like they did with WIC and the military.
The other federal judge in Massachusetts did not go as far in her ruling as the judge in Rhode Island. She did not order the Trump administration to disperse the contingency money. She ruled that the Trump administration’s interpretation of what the contingency money can be used for is likely wrong…and she ordered the trump administration to decide by Monday whether they would release those funds. She stopped short of ordering the USDA to release the SNAP contingency fund today. But she did say that the blue states suing over this are likely going to succeed in their claim that the Trump administration’s suspension of SNAP benefits is unlawful.
Now – what’s the reality of all of this for the 42 million people on SNAP? Well – one – it’s highly unlikely that SNAP benefits will go out tomorrow – even with these rulings. Because even if the Trump administration released that contingency money this minute logistically – it takes a few days from the time the contractors receive the money from the government to physically get those funds onto EBT cards. And as I said the contingency fund is only about $5.5 billion dollars which is a lot – but the US government spends about $8 to 9 billion a month on SNAP. So the reality is even if the Trump administration released the money it absolutely will not cover the full month of SNAP benefits. So the best case scenario for snap beneficiaries would be the Trump administration agrees with these court rulings, releases the contingency fund money – and sometime soon — some portion of snap benefits go out and last for a few weeks which would then give lawmakers in congress more time to reach a deal to get the government and snap up and running again.
But the worst case scenario for SNAP beneficiaries would be if the Trump administration decides to fight these rulings and appeal them. Which is very likely. If that’s the case, the appeals courts could put a hold on these rulings and no money would go out. No benefits would be paid and that $5.5 billion fund would just sit there …unused…until the appellate court makes a decision. Which could take another week or so.
For the record – the one group that could change this is congress. They could reach a deal to get snap up and running again – but as I have been reporting – the House has been out of session for more than a month and last night – the senate majority leader decided to send everyone home for a long weekend.
Read the judge’s ruling from Massachusetts here.
Read the lawsuit in Massachusetts here.
Read the lawsuit from Rhode Island here.
Read more from the plaintiffs in Rhode Island about today’s ruling here.
