Trump administration cannot withhold full funding for food aid, US appeals court rules

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to halt Thursday's decision by a Rhode Island judge requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture to spend US$4 billion set aside for other purposes to ensure Americans receive full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.

The ruling by the 1st Circuit will have no immediate impact because on Friday U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson put a temporary hold on the lower court order by U.S. District Judge John McConnell. Her temporary hold remains in place for 48 hours after the 1st Circuit decision.

Jackson's order, along with earlier court rulings and announcements by the administration and various states at the center of the litigation, has left the status of the country's anti-hunger food aid program uncertain during the shutdown.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAD APPEALED LOWER COURT DECISION

On Saturday, USDA directed states, which administer the benefits on a day-to-day basis, to "undo" any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, before Jackson's order or risk financial penalties.

The administration had argued that McConnell could not force the USDA to find money beyond a contingency fund in the "metaphorical couch cushions" to pay for full SNAP benefits while the shutdown continued.

It blamed Congress for the crisis and said it was up to lawmakers to solve it. The Senate on Sunday moved forward on a measure aimed at reopening the federal government, which on Monday reached its 41st day.

“We do not take lightly the government’s concern that money used to fund November SNAP payments will be unavailable for other important nutrition assistance programs,” U.S. Circuit Judge Julie Rikelman wrote for the three-judge panel.

But Rikelman, who like the other judges was appointed by a Democratic president, said the court could not conclude McConnell abused his discretion. A ruling for the administration would have led to "widespread harm" by "leaving tens of millions of Americans without food as winter approaches," she wrote.

The White House and USDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Monday.

SNAP BENEFITS COST US$8.5-US$9 BILLION PER MONTH

SNAP benefits are paid monthly to eligible Americans whose income is less than 130% of the federal poverty line. The maximum monthly benefit for the 2026 fiscal year is US$298 for a one-person household and US$546 for a two-person household.

The administration originally planned to suspend SNAP benefits altogether in November, citing a lack of funding because of the shutdown. They cost US$8.5 billion to US$9 billion per month.

But in a lawsuit by a group of cities, nonprofits, a union and a food retailer, McConnell ruled that the administration either was required to use emergency funding to partially fund SNAP benefits once it resolved the "administrative and clerical burdens" of paying reduced benefits, or tap additional funding to fully pay out November's SNAP benefits.

The USDA opted on November 3 to use only contingency funding, which would provide US$4.65 billion to cover benefits.

But McConnell on Thursday concluded USDA failed to address how it could take weeks or months for some states to change their systems to process reduced benefits. He ordered it to tap a US$23.35 billion fund used for child nutrition programs to provide the $4 billion necessary to make up the difference.