Trump says no food stamps until shutdown ends, potentially defying court

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the administration won’t pay food stamp benefits until after the partial government shutdown ends, in potential defiance of a federal court order and in conflict with what his administration told a judge Monday.

His post on the social media site Truth Social came even as the Agriculture Department was giving state agencies directions on how to distribute partial Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November. A USDA memo said the agencies must notify households about a reduction in the monthly benefit.

Trump’s post also came the same day a federal court in Rhode Island was asked to order the USDA to fully pay November food stamp benefits. The USDA said Monday it would deplete a contingency fund that could cover roughly half — about $4.65 billion — of the monthly benefit using a SNAP contingency fund.

“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly “handed” to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!” Trump said in the post.

The USDA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s post.

Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island ordered the USDA on Saturday to use a contingency fund to pay benefits. He said reduced benefits had to go out by the end of the day Wednesday.

But the Rhode Island State Council of Churches and other groups bringing the case asked the court in a new filing Tuesday to order full SNAP payments in November.

“It is now clear that due to Defendants’ course of conduct, and by their own admission, undertaking a partial payment plan at this point cannot meet the Court’s directives or adequately remedy the harm Plaintiffs are suffering, the Court should grant Plaintiffs’ motion to enforce and should temporarily enjoin and compel Defendants to release the withheld funding, in its entirety, for November SNAP benefits,” the church group said.

McConnell told the administration to respond by the end of Wednesday and he scheduled a hearing Thursday.

At issue is not only whether the administration will pay the November benefits, but how much and how fast. Trump’s comment appears to return the administration to its position last week, when it said it wouldn’t pay benefits during the shutdown.

The USDA had also said it couldn’t use a contingency fund for SNAP during a shutdown but said Monday it would comply with the court order from Saturday. But the USDA also said Monday the bureaucratic work of reducing benefits could take weeks in some states, making it unable to make the payments by the judge’s deadline.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Tuesday said on social media site X that the USDA will provide technical assistance to states. “This will be a cumbersome process, including revised eligibility systems, State notification procedures, and ultimately, delayed benefits for weeks, but we will help States navigate those challenges,” Rollins said.

The filing Tuesday from the groups in the Rhode Island case said the government has the funds to pay full benefit and asked the court to intervene if the administration doesn’t make the full payment.

“The Court should grant a temporary restraining order and preliminary stay on the ground that Defendants’ decision not to provide full SNAP benefits — even though they have funds available to do so and even though switching to partial payments at this late date will cause devastating delay — is arbitrary and capricious,” the filing said.

Congressional comment

Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., said on Monday that states will have to reprogram their equipment for the reduced benefits.

“It really illustrates that the shutdown is causing real problems,” Boozman said. “It is something that just the the amount of time it takes to actually do that, to get it where they can get the dollars out is going to take a while, some states more than others, because some states are more efficient.”

Boozman added that he was pleased the USDA was complying with the court order.

House Agriculture ranking member Angie Craig, D-Minn., criticized Trump’s decision to walk back on providing SNAP benefits.

“He is not free to disregard the rule of law whenever it becomes politically inconvenient for him. The Trump administration must comply with recent court orders to fund SNAP in November for millions of hungry seniors, children, veterans and the disabled,” Craig said in a statement.

She also called on Trump to direct Rollins to use her transfer authority to fully fund SNAP. Democrats have called on the administration to use its so-called Section 32 authority to fund the remaining $4 billion needed to provide full benefits.

The reduced allotment for a one-person household for 48 states and D.C. would be $149. The USDA said in a July report that average SNAP benefits in fiscal 2024 was $187.20 per participant per month.