❓WHAT HAPPENED: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits may end up being at least partially distributed on Monday, following a controversial order by U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of Rhode Island.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., the Trump administration, SNAP beneficiaries.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The ruling was issued Friday, with further clarification over the weekend, and a noon Monday deadline for the government to respond.
💬KEY QUOTE: “I do not want Americans to go hungry. [I] ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible. . . . If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding.” — President Donald J. Trump
🎯IMPACT: The ruling has drawn extensive criticism from the legal community as well as confusion from the Trump White House, as it requires the administration to tap a small emergency reserve of around $5.25 billion to cover $8.5 billion in November SNAP benefits.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits may end up being at least partially distributed on Monday, following a controversial order by U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of Rhode Island. Appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama, McConnell’s ruling has drawn extensive criticism from the legal community, as well as confusion from the Trump White House, as it requires the administration to tap a small emergency reserve of around $5.25 billion to cover $8.5 billion in November SNAP benefits.
“I do not want Americans to go hungry. [I] ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible. . . . If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding,” President Donald J. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social late Friday. This prompted McConnell to issue guidance over the weekend, essentially telling the administration to find the extra funds—though he acknowledged this must be done in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. Impossibly, the judge ordered that benefits must begin processing by the end of Monday, and partial payment should be completed by Wednesday.
However, Judge McConnell’s order may not withstand further legal scrutiny from the appellate court or potentially the U.S. Supreme Court. Foremost, the ruling—which strangely takes the form of a “temporary restraining order” despite compelling an action rather than barring it—is universal in application, likely running afoul of a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that limited such nationwide orders to only class-action lawsuits. In a footnote, the judge offers a weak defense of the order’s nationwide application, simply claiming that “a limited order would not provide complete relief.”
In addition, it appears Judge McConnell only considered the congressional appropriation aspect of the SNAP program and benefit payments during the Senate Democrat-caused government shutdown. The judge failed to consider the issue of the SNAP program itself, which is not currently in existence—in a technical sense—since its congressional authorization lapsed in 2023 and has been temporarily reauthorized through subsequent continuing resolutions (CRs). When Senate Democrats blocked the CR to temporarily fund the government on October 1, they also blocked the underlying SNAP reauthorization.
“Is there money in a contingency fund? Sure, probably. At minimum there’s $3b available through 09/2026. Maybe there’s another $3b available through 09/2027 but none of that necessarily matters,” former Senate Judiciary Committee counsel Mike Fragoso noted in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “You see, the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 was most recently reauthorized in the 2018 Farm Bill. That authorization ran out in 2023 and subsequent CRs have *carried that authorization* for their length. This means that SNAP’s authorization expired with the CR on October 1st. The program is no longer in effect, and with it this entitlement.”
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