1 of 3 | Protesters gather for a “Moral Budget Vigil” at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., on Tuesday. A federal judge said the Trump administration must update the court on its plans to fund SNAP benefits. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
President Donald Trump has until noon to respond to a federal judge who ruled last week that food benefits must be reinstated amid a government shutdown that entered its 34th day Monday.
Two federal judges — in Massachusetts and Rhode Island — ruled Friday that the Trump administration must continue providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits despite the federal government shutdown.
The Trump administration cut off federal SNAP funds, which were expected to dispersed to states beginning Saturday. In previous federal government shutdowns, the U.S. Department of Agriculture paid out SNAP benefits using a contingency fund, but last week, Trump said his administration won’t be doing that.
In his decision Friday, U.S. District Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to issue the full SNAP funds by the end of the day Monday or partial funds by Wednesday. He said the administration must notify the court of what it plans to do by noon Monday.
NBC News reported that in order for the government to make the full payment, it would have to find money beyond the contingency fund.
“There is no question that the congressionally approved contingency funds must be used now because of the shutdown; in fact, the president during his first term issued guidance indicating that these contingency funds are available if SNAP funds lapse due to a government shutdown,” McConnell wrote.
Meanwhile, the Senate was expected to reconvene at 3 p.m. Monday, though no vote is scheduled on a continuing resolution to temporarily fund the government, ABC News reported.
At 34 days, the federal government is one day shy of the 35-day shutdown record set in 2019.
Trump has called for Senate Republicans to “get rid of the filibuster” to allow them to pass the stopgap funding bill with a simple majority. The so-called “nuclear option” would eliminate the need for the 60-vote supermajority typically required to pass legislation in the upper chamber.
Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota said he’s against invoking the nuclear option for fear Democrats would use it as precedent and take advantage of it when they control the Senate in the future.
