The Trump administration on Friday asked an appeals court to block a judge’s order requiring it to distribute full benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for the month of November, but the court denied the request while leaving the door open to further challenges in the coming days.
In a ruling Thursday, a federal judge ordered the administration to pay SNAP benefits in full using a large pool of nutrition-related funds, contrary to the administration’s plan to pay only about half of November’s benefits using a smaller fund specifically associated with the program.
Vice President JD Vance called the court ruling “absurd” and said the administration wanted to fund SNAP by having Democrats agree to reopen the government. “But in the midst of a shutdown we can’t have a federal court telling the president how he has to triage the situation,” he told reporters.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday her department was requesting a stay of the judge’s “utterly lawless Temporary Restraining Order.” At the same time, and somewhat confusingly, the Department of Agriculture released a statement Friday saying it was in the process of making the funds available in full, as ordered.
Some states have announced that they will pay full benefits in the coming days. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said on social media Friday that full SNAP benefits would be paid “IN FULL” starting on Saturday, while Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the benefits were already flowing and should be available shortly.