Boxes of sugary cereal line the shelves of a store in Miami, Florida, on April 16, 2025. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – A federal judge in Boston ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s plan to suspend a food aid program for 42 million people was illegal – but gave the Trump administration until Monday to respond to her finding before ruling on a request to force payment of benefits despite the ongoing government shutdown.
At almost the same time on Friday, in a similar case brought by cities and nonprofit groups, a Rhode Island federal judge ordered the USDA to continue payments and granted a request for a preliminary injunction.
But experts and a key member of Congress said some SNAP recipients could still see delays in their benefits as administrative changes from the federal government to states to providers take time.
There was also no immediate communication from the USDA on how it will implement the court orders while the administration sought guidance from the courts.
In a social media post overdue Friday, President Donald Trump said that government lawyers believed the funds could not be legally distributed and that he needed clarification on how SNAP benefits could be legally distributed.
In Massachusetts, on a Friday afternoon commandMassachusetts District Court Judge Indira Talwani said she would continue to accept “under advice” a request from a coalition of Democratic states to force the release of funds from an emergency account containing about $6 billion.
Her verdict came a day earlier a cutoff of The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits low-income households.
With Congress in a stalemate over a stopgap bill and failing to provide funding for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, administration officials say the program will be unable to provide federal funding as of Saturday. States load SNAP benefits onto cards on different dates, but the cutoff period applies to November benefits.
Talwani, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, called the administration’s conclusion that it could not provide SNAP funds “wrong” and said the reserve fund was sufficient to allow SNAP benefits to flow to states and the providers who deposit money into debit-like cards issued to the program’s beneficiaries and used to purchase food.
The law creating the program requires the benefits to continue, she said.
“Defendants are required by law to use the previously allocated SNAP emergency reserve when necessary and also have discretion to use other previously allocated funds,” Talwani wrote.
Talwani ordered the government to announce by Monday whether it would provide at least partial benefits for November.
Trump asks for clarification
Trump said on social media that he would be ecstatic if the funding stopped and blamed Democrats for the months-long lockdown.
“I have instructed our attorneys to ask the court as quickly as possible to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP,” Trump wrote. “It’s already delayed enough because Democrats are keeping the government closed until the monthly payment deadline, and even if we get immediate guidance, unfortunately it will be delayed while states get the money out.”
The government filed a brief in the Rhode Island case asking the judge there to clarify how his order could be legally implemented.
Earlier Friday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was noncommittal when asked whether the department would comply with an order to resume benefits. according to CNN.
Spokespeople for the Justice Department, which is representing the administration in the case, did not return requests for comment Friday.
The 25 states that sued were Massachusetts, California, Arizona, Minnesota, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington State, Wisconsin Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The District of Columbia also sued.
Emergency funds can’t flow during shutdown, USDA chief says
At a news conference with U.S. House Republicans on Friday, Rollins said it was “a lie” that the emergency fund could be used to provide benefits.
“There is an emergency fund at the USDA, but that emergency fund, in my opinion, doesn’t even cover half of the $9.2 billion that would be needed for SNAP in November,” she said. “But it can only flow if the underlying program is funded. It’s called an emergency fund, and by law an emergency fund can only flow if the underlying fund is flowing.”
The justices who wrote Friday’s court orders disagreed with Rollins’ argument, which also conflicted with a shutdown plan that her own department released on Sept. 30 before quietly deleting it sometime in October. The plan called for SNAP benefits to continue during a shutdown because the emergency fund was in place.
“It is clear that Congress intends to continue operating SNAP as the program is equipped with multi-year emergency funds,” the Sept. 30 plan states.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, said benefit disbursements “will likely be delayed by several days or more” and blamed the situation on the administration’s refusal to spend money from the emergency fund.
“The government has decided to take hungry families hostage for its partisan political games,” she said in a statement. “It’s cruel. It’s shameful. And as federal judges in two states have now confirmed, it’s illegal.”
Rhode Island case
In Rhode Island, where the judge issued a short-lived restraining order, advocacy group Democracy Forward, which was among those who filed the lawsuit, praised the move.
“A federal court today issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump-Vance Administration’s unlawful attempt to stop the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the ongoing government shutdown,” the group said. “The decision ensures that millions of children, seniors, veterans and families will continue to receive vital food assistance as the case continues.”
The judge in the case, John James McConnell Jr., said the administration’s actions on a key federal administrative law violated arbitrary and capricious executive actions and federal spending laws “by disregarding Congress’ direction that SNAP must continue to operate,” Democracy Forward said.
McConnell was also appointed by Obama.
Delays in services likely
Friday’s orders likely won’t prevent some SNAP benefits from at least being delayed, according to Lauren Kallins, a senior legislative director for state affairs at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Although the Trump administration immediately complied with McConnell’s order that benefits be released, the process of moving money from the U.S. Treasury to states, providers and beneficiaries takes time.
“Under the best of circumstances … it’s not a switch that can be flipped once the USDA decides to release funds,” said Kallins, whose organization coordinates and advocates for bipartisan state lawmakers in every state.
States generally release SNAP funds to beneficiaries on a staggered basis, meaning different beneficiaries receive their allotments on different days of the month.
With the situation unresolved a day before the start of the recent benefit month, some are certain there will at least be delays in benefits, Kallins said.
“For people who get their allotments at the beginning of the month, there will definitely be … a delay here,” she said.
Additionally, if the USDA were to release money only from the emergency fund, it could take some time for states to decide how to distribute the prorated benefits.
Congress is no closer to a solution
On Capitol Hill Friday, the parties appeared no closer to an agreement as the government shutdown continued into a second month.
House Republicans continued to blame Democrats for the shutdown and called on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to rally his caucus behind the House-passed GOP measure to reopen the government at last fiscal year’s spending levels.
“Republicans did our part to end the Democratic shutdown, and now it’s time for Democrats to do their part,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday morning.
“The path forward is simple – please, please, every American who is worried about this, every American who feels the damage, should call the Democrats in the Senate and tell them to stop the nonsense, join the voices of the unions, the airlines and hardworking people everywhere and tell them to stop it and open up the government.”
Democrats voted against the GOP measure, saying Republicans in Congress must negotiate an extension of tax subsidies for those who buy health insurance on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace.
These subsidies are set to expire At the end of the year, millions will see their premiums skyrocket when they receive premium notices from Saturday.
