The Supreme Court temporarily blocked an order Friday night that would have forced the government to replenish the nation's largest anti-hunger program, a move the administration said would require it to “take out school lunch money” to keep families fed.
The decision, issued on behalf of the court by Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, briefly stayed the district court's order that would have forced the Trump administration to pay $4 billion in food stamps (formally called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) to keep it afloat through November amid the ongoing government shutdown.
That suspension will expire 48 hours after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decides whether to force payment or allow food assistance to expire for millions of Americans who depend on it.
The courtroom drama began Thursday night, when a U.S. district judge ordered the federal government to pay the $4 billion by 5 p.m. Friday.
The administration responded with a blistering appeal, filing it around breakfast time Friday in the First Circuit and again before the Supreme Court in the middle of dinner.
“There is no legal basis for an order directing USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,” the deputy prosecutor said. Gen. Brett A. Shumate wrote in the First Circuit appeal.
The administration's only option would be to “starve Peter to feed Paul” by cutting school lunch programs, Shumate wrote.
On Friday afternoon, the appeals court declined to immediately block the lower court's order and said it would rule quickly on the merits of the funding decree.
The administration immediately appealed to the Supreme Court, demanding that the justices block the measure by 9:30 p.m. Eastern time.
“The district court's ruling is unsustainable throughout,” Attorney General D. John Sauer wrote in his petition, saying it would “metastasize” into “further shutdown chaos.”
SNAP benefits are a key fight in the current government shutdown. California is one of several states suing the administration to restore the safety net program as negotiations continue to end the impasse.
Millions of Americans have struggled to afford food since benefits expired Nov. 1, inspiring many Republican lawmakers to join Democrats in calling for an emergency stopgap.
The Trump administration was previously ordered to release contingency funds for the program that it said would cover benefits through about half of November.
But the process has been “confusing and chaotic” and “riddled with errors,” according to a brief filed by 25 states and the District of Columbia.
Some states, including California, have begun disbursing SNAP benefits for the month. Others say partial funding is a functional blockage.
“Many states' existing systems require complete reprogramming to accomplish this task, and given the sudden (and abrupt) nature of the USDA guidance, that task is impossible to complete quickly,” the report said.
“New calculations required by [the government’s] The plan will delay November benefits for [state] residents for weeks or months.”
In response, U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. of Rhode Island ordered full payment of the food stamps by the end of the week. He accused the administration of withholding the benefit for political gain.
“Faced with the choice between advancing aid or consolidating the delay, [the administration] “he chose the latter, an outcome that predictably magnifies the damage and undermines the very purpose of the program he administers,” he wrote.
“This Court is not naive about the administration's true motivations,” McConnell wrote. “Far from being concerned about funding child nutrition, these statements make clear that the administration is withholding all SNAP benefits for political reasons.”
The Supreme Court has extended that deadline at least until the weekend. A more complete decision from the First Circuit or the Supreme Court could overturn it entirely.
The First Circuit is currently the most liberal in the country, with five active judges, all of whom were appointed to the bench by Democratic presidents. But the Supreme Court has a conservative supermajority and has regularly sided with the administration in decisions on the emergency file.
As the First Circuit deliberates, both sides argue over how many children will go hungry if the other side prevails.
More than 16 million children depend on SNAP benefits. About 30 million are fed through the National School Lunch Program, which the government now says it must gut to comply with the court order.
But the same cash fund has already been used to expand the Women, Infants and Children program, which is a federal program that pays for baby formula and other basic items for some poor families.
“This clearly undermines defendants' point of view, as WIC is a completely separate program from the Child Nutrition Programs,” McConnell wrote.
In its order Friday, the First Circuit panel said it would issue a full ruling “as quickly as possible.”
In her order, Judge Jackson said it is expected to be done “promptly.”
