Trump administration renews Supreme Court appeal to keep full SNAP payments frozen

President Donald Trump’s administration returned to the Supreme Court on Monday in a push to keep full payments in the SNAP federal food aid program frozen while the government is shut down.

The request is the latest in a flurry of legal activity over how a program that helps buy groceries for 42 million Americans should proceed during the historic U.S. government shutdown. Lower courts have ruled that the government must keep full payments flowing, and the Supreme Court asked the administration to respond after an appeals court ruled against it again late Sunday.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer confirmed that the federal government still wants those lower-court orders put on hold, though in a letter to the justices he also pointed to reports that Congress could soon end the shutdown with a compromise that would fund SNAP.

Once passed, the government funding package would refill funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as well as ensuring that states that spent their own funds to keep it running during the shutdown will be reimbursed.

The potential for ‘catastrophic operational disruptions’

States administering SNAP payments continue to face uncertainty over whether they can — and should — provide full monthly benefits during the ongoing legal battles.

The Trump administration over the weekend demanded that states “undo” full benefits that were paid during a one-day window after a federal judge ordered full funding and before a Supreme Court justice paused that order.

A federal appeals court in Boston left the full benefits order in place late Sunday, though the Supreme Court order ensures the government won’t have to pay out for at least 48 hours.

“The record here shows that the government sat on its hands for nearly a month, unprepared to make partial payments, while people who rely on SNAP received no benefits a week into November and counting,” Judge Julie Rikleman of the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals wrote.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, presiding over a case filed in Boston by Democratic state officials, on Monday paused the U.S. Department of Agriculture's request from Saturday that states “immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits.” The USDA administers SNAP.

Talwani scheduled a hearing for later Monday on that request.

The Supreme Court has allowed the government to pause full payments so far, and is expected to decide late Tuesday whether to extend the freeze. Congress could also decide this week to fund SNAP through the end of the fiscal year under a proposal to end the government shutdown.

Some states are warning of “catastrophic operational disruptions” if the Trump administration does not reimburse them for those SNAP benefits they already authorized. Meanwhile, other states are providing partial monthly SNAP benefits with federal money or using their own funds to load electronic benefit cards for SNAP recipients.

Millions receive aid while others wait

Trump's administration initially said SNAP benefits would not be available in November because of the shutdown. After some states and nonprofit groups sued, judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely.

The administration then said it would use an emergency reserve fund to provide 65% of the maximum monthly benefit. On Thursday, Rhode Island-based U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell said that wasn't good enough, and ordered full funding for SNAP benefits by Friday.

Some states acted quickly to direct their EBT vendors to disburse full monthly benefits to SNAP recipients. Millions of people in those states received funds to buy groceries before Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson put McConnell's order on hold Friday night, pending further deliberation by an appeals court.

Millions more people still have not received SNAP payments for November, because their states were waiting on guidance from the USDA.

“Continued delays deepen suffering for children, seniors, and working families, and force nonprofits to shoulder an even heavier burden,” Diane Yentel, President and CEO, National Council of Nonprofits, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said in a statement Monday. "If basic decency and humanity don’t compel the administration to assure food security for all Americans, then multiple federal court judges finding its actions unlawful must.”

Trump's administration has argued that the judicial order to provide full benefits violates the Constitution by infringing on the spending power of the legislative and executive branches.

States are fighting attempt to freeze SNAP benefits

The latest rulings give some relief to the Democratic-controlled states that started making full SNAP payments before the Supreme Court nixed them Friday.

Wisconsin, which was among the first to load full benefits after McConnell’s order, had its federal reimbursement frozen. As a result, the state’s SNAP account could be depleted as soon as Monday, leaving no money to reimburse stores that sell food to SNAP recipients, according to a court filing submitted by those that had sued.

Some Democratic governors vowed to challenge any federal attempt to claw back money.

In Connecticut, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said “those who received their benefits should not worry about losing them.”