The legal battle over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits escalated on Monday, as Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson set a rapid-fire deadline for the Trump administration to respond to a federal appeals court decision demanding that full SNAP payments be issued immediately.
The deadline is part of a quick schedule established by Justice Jackson after the 1st U.S Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a lower court order requiring full benefit payments to stand. This ruling came just a day after the Trump administration had directed states to “immediately undo” any full payments already processed.
Justice Jackson, who had previously issued a temporary pause on the initial Rhode Island district court order to allow the appeals court to weigh in, is now pushing the case toward swift resolution.
The administration was given until 11 a.m. ET on Monday to decide whether it would petition the Supreme Court to halt the appeals court’s payment order.
By 4 p.m. ET, the Department of Justice was required to file its briefs if it chose to pursue the stay. Plaintiffs would then have until 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday to file their response.
In a letter confirming the intent to seek a stay, Solicitor General Sauer noted that the government argued that a successful measure to end the ongoing government shutdown would “moot this application.”
Appeals Court Cites ‘Unchallenged Harms’
The appeals court’s decision to order full payments was heavily influenced by the humanitarian concerns surrounding the lapse in food aid.
“The immediate, predictable, and unchallenged harms facing forty-two million Americans who rely on SNAP benefits — including fourteen million children — weigh heavily against a stay,” the appeals court wrote in its reasoning.
The court also pointed to the district court’s finding that the administration’s delay created an “avoidable” crisis, stating the “government sat on its hands for nearly a month, unprepared to make partial payments.”
Chaos Over Payments Persists
The legal and political confusion over food assistance persists amid the government shutdown. A separate SNAP case brought by several states obtained a temporary restraining order blocking the USDA’s memo threatening action against states that had already begun sending out full benefits.
The USDA’s Saturday memo had sparked an uproar, with state leaders accusing the administration of attempting to snatch a “federal lifeline” away from those who depend on it.
While the Senate has moved forward on a package to reopen the government, the legislative process could still take days, leaving the fate of November’s SNAP benefits in the hands of the courts for the immediate future.
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