Two federal judges order Trump administration to release SNAP benefits as 42 million SNAP users are held hostage amid political showdown.
Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that the Trump administration must continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the ongoing government shutdown which enters day 30.
The rulings came a day before the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown.
You’re a lot closer to needing SNAP benefits than you are to becoming a billionaire
Remember that #snap— We told you So (@terri4436166795) October 28, 2025
Trump administration ordered to release funding
Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts stated the Trump administration has until ‘no later than Monday’ to consider whether to pay at least partial SNAP food benefits to 42 million low-income people. The judge acknowledged this will leave millions of people without assistance starting Saturday.
Talwani said the Agriculture Department must use emergency funds to keep SNAP going. She also said other money is legally available, but left the decision of how much benefits to distribute up to the administration.
U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of Rhode Island, similarly ordered the Trump administration to continue paying for the program using emergency funds, and to notify the court by Monday how SNAP will be funded.
Stated Judge McConnell, ‘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.’
Weaponizing hunger
Leaders of 25 Democratic run states have sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the administration’s decision to suspend the nation’s largest anti-hunger program for the first time in its history.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat) applauded the food stamp rulings, stating Trump ‘should not be weaponizing hunger’.
Despite both court’s ruling, it was not immediately clear how the judges rulings will be implemented, along with the length of time involved in assisting millions of Americans who rely on the funding.
The Trump administration according to some analysts is likely to appeal both rulings.
The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. Word in October that it would be a Nov. 1 casualty of the shutdown sent states, food banks and SNAP recipients scrambling to figure out how to secure food. Some states said they would spend their own funds to keep versions of the program going.
The program costs around $8 billion per month nationally.
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.
The government shutdown which has led to SNAP benefits running out comes as Democrats have been holding out over expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Republicans and Trump blame Democrats for keeping the government shut down and for any impacts on Americans — including for SNAP recipients.
