Judge Orders Trump Administration Pay For SNAP Benefits Amid Government Shutdown
on Oct 31, 2025
United States Government Remains Shutdown
Nearly one month has passed since the government shutdown began on October 1, and Republicans and Democrats in the Senate remain at an impasse.
Over the course of 13 votes on a Republican-backed, stopgap continuing resolution, which would fund the government through November 21 under the terms of the previously approved budget, each attempt has failed to reach the 60 votes needed for approval.
As the start of a new month approaches, the future of many federally funded programs, including the SNAP food assistance, remains uncertain. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an average of 41.7 million Americans participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) each month in 2024.
Judge Orders Government Continue To Pay For Benefits
On Friday (October 31), U.S District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute funds to SNAP recipients “as soon as possible,” just one day before the funding is set to expire.
The judge stated that the Trump administration “must distribute” aid from emergency reserves immediately. He also ordered that the administration submit a plan detailing how it will comply with his ruling, or at minimum, provide an update, by noon on Monday, Ocean State Media reported.
“There is no doubt that the six billion dollars in contingency funds are appropriated funds that are without a doubt necessary to carry out the program’s operation,” McConnell said in his ruling. “The shutdown of the government through funding doesn’t do away with SNAP. It just does away with the funding of it. There could be no greater necessity than the prohibition across the board of funds for the program’s operations.”
McConnell added, “there is no doubt, and it is beyond argument, that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn’t already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food for their family.”
In a filing late Friday, the Trump administration updated it was “expeditiously attempting to comply” with Judge McConnell’s order.
