A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration Thursday to find the money to fully fund SNAP benefits for November.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. gave President Donald Trump's administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, though it's unlikely the 42 million Americans — about 1 in 8, most of them in poverty — will see the money on the debit cards they use for groceries nearly that quickly.
Aidan Tavor, center, directs traffic Thursday as volunteers help load vehicles during a food distribution at the San Antonio Food Bank for SNAP recipients and other households affected by the federal shutdown.
The order was in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65% of the maximum benefit, a decision that would have left some recipients getting nothing for this month.
"The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund SNAP," McConnell said in a ruling from the bench after a brief hearing. "They knew that there would be a long delay in paying partial SNAP payments and failed to consider the harms individuals who rely on those benefits would suffer."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
McConnell was one of two judges who ruled last week that the administration could not skip November's benefits entirely because of the federal shutdown.
The Trump administration chose partial payments this week
Last month, the administration said that it would halt SNAP payments for November if the government shutdown wasn't resolved.
A coalition of cities and nonprofits sued in federal court in Rhode Island and Democratic state officials from across the country did so in Massachusetts.
The judges in both cases ordered the government to use one emergency reserve fund containing more than $4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments, which cost between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month.
On Monday, the administration said it would not use additional money, saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the program and that the other money was needed to shore up other child hunger programs.
A volunteer reaches for a box of tomatoes during a food distribution at the San Antonio Food Ban for SNAP recipients and other households affected by the federal shutdown, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The partial funding brought on complications
McConnell harshly criticized the Trump administration for making that choice.
"Without SNAP funding for the month of November, 16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry," he said. "This should never happen in America. In fact, it's likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here."
Tyler Becker, the attorney for the government, unsuccessfully argued that the Trump administration followed the court's order in issuing the partial payments.
"This all comes down to Congress not having appropriated funds because of the government shutdown," he said.
Kristin Bateman, a lawyer for the coalition of cities and nonprofit organizations, told the judge the administration had other reasons for not fully funding the benefits.
"What defendants are really trying to do is to leverage people's hunger to gain partisan political advantage in the shutdown fight," Bateman told the court.
McConnell said last week's order required that those payments be made "expeditiously" and "efficiently" — and by Wednesday — or a full payment would be required.
"Nothing was done consistent with the court's order to clear the way to expeditiously resolve it," McConnell said.
Volunteers help load vehicles during a food distribution at the San Antonio Food Bank for SNAP recipients and other households affected by the federal sutdown, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
There were other twists and turns this week
The administration said in a court filing Monday that it could take weeks or even months for some states to make calculations and system changes to load the debit cards used in the SNAP program. At the time, it said it would fund 50% of the maximum benefits.
The next day, Trump appeared to threaten not to pay the benefits at all unless Democrats in Congress agreed to reopen the government. His press secretary later said that the partial benefits would be paid for November but future payments are at risk if the shutdown continues.
On Wednesday night, the administration recalculated, telling states there was enough money to pay for 65% of the maximum benefits.
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Under a decades-old formula in federal regulations, everyone who received less than the maximum benefit would get a larger percentage reduction. Some families would have received nothing and some single people and two-person households could have gotten as little as $16.
Carmel Scaife, a former day care owner in Milwaukee who hasn't been able to work since receiving multiple severe injuries in a car accident seven years ago, said she normally receives $130 a month from SNAP. She said that despite bargain hunting, that is not nearly enough for a month's worth of groceries.
Scaife, 56, said cuts to her benefit will mean she will need to further tap her Social Security income for groceries. "That'll take away from the bills that I pay," she said. "But that's the only way I can survive."
The next legal step is unclear
This type of order is usually not subject to an appeal, but the Trump administration challenged other rulings like it before.
An organization whose lawyers filed the challenge signaled it would continue the battle if needed.
"We shouldn't have to force the President to care for his citizens," Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement, "but we will do whatever is necessary to protect people and communities."
It often takes SNAP benefits a week or more to be loaded onto debit cards once states initiate the process.
Read more of today's top headlines:
Monthlong government shutdown in photos: Disruptions, delays and divisions
Volunteer Betty McNeely, right, helps a man bag food items Oct. 28 at Project Feed, an emergency food pantry in Portland, Maine. With no endgame in sight, the U.S. government shutdown is expected to roll on for the unforeseeable future, injecting more uncertainty into an already precarious economy.
Brock Brooks, a disable Marine Corps veteran, cries Oct. 30 while describing the impending SNAP shutdowns while waiting in line to enter the food pantry service at Calvary Episcopal Church in Louisville, Ky. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, lapsed Saturday.
Volunteers prepare emergency food packages Oct. 28 at the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth, Texas.
Tammy Norton, a furloughed federal employee of 16 years who currently works for the Internal Revenue Service, reacts with emotion Oct. 28 as she talks about running through her limited savings to support her family during the government shutdown, at a food distribution center for federal employees affected by the government shutdown in Dania Beach, Fla. The monthlong government shutdown halted routine federal operations, furloughed about 750,000 federal employees and left others working without pay.
Volunteer Joel Hernandez helps load a vehicle Oct. 27 during a food distribution targeting federal employee households affected by the federal shutdown as well as SNAP recipients in San Antonio.
A food and supplies bank is set up Oct. 17 at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nv.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., disputes a reporter's question Oct. 24 as he enters his office at the Capitol in Washington on day 24 of the government shutdown.
The Capitol is seen at nightfall Oct. 22, day 22 of a government shutdown, in Washington.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the Senate GOP whip, left, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrive for a news conference with top Republicans on the government shutdown Oct. 1 at the Capitol in Washington.
Air Traffic Controllers stand Oct. 28 outside Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Mich., distributing leaflets explaining how the federal government shutdown is affecting air travel. Airports have been scrambling with flight disruptions.
Travelers sit together and wait Oct. 2 at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore.
TSA agent Sashene McLean, holding her 1-year-old daughter, comes from work to collect a donation of produce, meat and yogurt Oct. 28 at a food distribution center in Dania Beach, Fla., organized to assist federal employees missing paychecks during the government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters Sept. 30 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington as the U.S. government was on the brink of the first federal government shutdown in almost seven years.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and GOP leaders, from left, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., blame the government shutdown on Democrats during an Oct. 2 news conference at the Capitol in Washington. Americans, meanwhile, are divided on who’s to blame.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., attends a Sept. 30 news conference about the government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington. Democrats seek an extension of expiring tax credits that helped millions of people afford health insurance, while Republicans say they won’t negotiate until the government is reopened.
