US judges order Trump administration to unlock billions in food aid

Millions in the US will miss food aid Saturday as contingency funds weren’t approved in time

Federal judges in Massachusetts, Rhode Island rule government must tap contingency funds to keep SNAP benefits flowing, as millions of low-income Americans face delays in food assistance amid ongoing shutdown.

Two US federal judges on Friday issued orders to block the Trump administration from stopping food aid for millions of Americans during the government shutdown, now over a month old, ordering the government to use contingency funds to continue the benefits.

The rulings, issued by judges in the Northeastern states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, followed lawsuits aiming to prevent the US Agriculture Department from suspending Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, widely known as food stamps, beginning Saturday, as reported by The Washington Post.

Both judges directed the administration to return to court on Monday and explain how it plans to carry out the orders.

President Donald Trump wrote on social media Friday evening that he had instructed government lawyers to work with the courts to release SNAP funds as quickly as possible, while blaming Democrats for any delays.

"If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding," Trump wrote on social media, although in the days leading up to the rulings, his administration said it was unable to provide the money.

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Even with the court orders, millions of Americans will still miss out on food assistance Saturday because the contingency funds were not approved in time. States and their vendors require several days’ notice to distribute the benefits to recipients.

But US District Judge John McConnell, appointed by former President Barack Obama, said the administration’s refusal to use $5.25 billion in contingency funds for November benefits was unjustified and added that USDA must distribute the contingency funds “timely, or as soon as possible, for the November 1 payments to be made.”

SNAP supports low-income Americans earning under 130% of the federal poverty level, about $1,632 per month for one person and $2,215 for two. States manage the program and distribute the monthly benefits.

"There is no doubt and it is beyond argument that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn't already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food, for their family," McConnell said.

Denial of benefits based on misreading of law, says judge

In a separate case in Boston, US District Judge Indira Talwani, also appointed by Obama, said the Agriculture Department appeared to be misreading the law. She declined to immediately order the release of contingency funds, as requested by 26 Democratic attorneys general and governors – representing over half the states in the US – but directed the agency to decide by Monday whether it will approve them.

Talwani said that since the benefit suspension relied on an “erroneous construction” of the law, the court would allow officials to determine whether to authorize at least reduced SNAP payments for November.

Although some delays are expected because payments couldn’t be processed on time, anti-hunger advocates and Democrats welcomed the rulings, saying they should still provide relief for millions on SNAP.

Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said the Agriculture Department has “no excuse to withhold food assistance,” calling any refusal “a cruel political decision” and urging swift action to ensure that families receive support.