The Supreme Court late Tuesday night extended the pause on a federal judge’s order that required the Trump administration to fully fund November’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, letting the “political process” play out as Congress reportedly nears a deal to end the government shutdown.
The Court’s decision keeps in place the administrative stay, first granted by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday, until 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday.
The Trump administration had urged the justices to extend the freeze, arguing that a pending deal to reopen the government would make the entire legal battle over the $4 billion in benefits for 42 million Americans “moot.”
The ruling avoids a definitive decision on the lower court’s order for the administration to transfer funds from other food security programs to cover the shortfall caused by the 42-day shutdown—the longest in U.S. history. The USDA had warned that without the full funding, November benefits would be reduced by an estimated 35%.
While Justice Jackson would have denied the request to extend her initial stay, no other justice registered a dissent to the full Court’s order. The House of Representatives could vote on a Senate-passed funding bill as early as Wednesday, a move that would restart government funding for SNAP, though the timeline for full payments remains uncertain.
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