The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended a short-term order that lets the Trump administration hold back full food stamp payments for November, keeping millions of low-income households in limbo.
Supreme Court's Administrative Stay Keeps SNAP In Limbo
The new order prolongs an "administrative stay" first issued on Friday by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, temporarily blocking a lower court ruling that required the administration to fully fund November benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
According to a report by ABC News, the court did not explain the extension, but the move appeared aimed at buying a few more days while a deal to reopen the government moves to the House for a vote on Wednesday and fully fund SNAP for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Shutdown Talks Shape Fate Of Food Assistance
With Congress hopeful that a bill to reopen the government could pass as soon as Wednesday, the fast-moving emergency appeal at the Supreme Court would likely be dismissed as it becomes irrelevant, reported CNN. A bipartisan bill to end the government shutdown is now headed to the House after the Senate approved it last night with backing from President Donald Trump and eight Democrats. The House could vote as early as tomorrow, marking the 43rd day of the shutdown.
Until then, Jackson's stay continues to block an order by U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. that the administration immediately pay out full November SNAP benefits. A federal appeals court in Boston rejected the administration's challenge on Sunday, but the Supreme Court's action means the government can keep making only partial payments while the shutdown continues.
Jackson, noted as the lone dissenter in Tuesday's order, said she would have denied the administration's request and forced it to pay full benefits while Congress debates a shutdown deal. She had granted the initial pause on Friday after Solicitor General John Sauer warned that complying with the lower court would require transferring roughly $4 billion in a single night.
States And SNAP Recipients Confront Confusing Guidance
The USDA initially informed states on Friday that it was "working towards implementing November 2025 full benefit issuances" to comply with McConnell's order, prompting 20 states to begin sending or preparing to send full benefits. The administration then pivoted, saying it would put up roughly two-thirds of a typical month's SNAP cost and reserve remaining contingency funds to shore up the separate WIC program for women, infants and children.
The shifting guidance has left state agencies and roughly 42 million SNAP recipients trying to decode which rules apply.
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