One day before 42 million Americans, were feared to lose benefits under Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to continue paying food assistance, ruling that government must use emergency contingency funds to provide the service during the shutdown. SNAP
Millions of families and individuals were to lose benefits beginning Saturday as the federal funding for the SNAP program ran out during the month-long shutdown.
In Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell issued an oral ruling that grants a temporary restraining order and stops the administration from suspending SNAP payments.
The judge directed the government to immediately draw on emergency funds to keep the program running and to explore whether other available federal funds could be used to supplement those payments.
SNAP RUNS OUT IN 4 DAYS.
Absent Senate Democrats voting to reopen the government, nearly 42 million food stamp recipients will not receive their November benefit allotment. pic.twitter.com/RRDhjMr4GE
— Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) October 28, 2025
“There is no doubt, and it is beyond argument, that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn’t already occurred,” McConnell said during the hearing.
The judge was hearing a case filed Thursday by a coalition of cities, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, and business groups, represented by the watchdog group Democracy Forward.
The plaintiffs argued that suspending SNAP benefits would be an “arbitrary and capricious act” that had caused “a crisis” for families relying on the program to eat.
A Justice Department attorney, Tyler Becker, argued that the administration could not continue the program because Congress had not appropriated new funds.
Becker argued, “There is no SNAP program and, as a result, the government cannot just provide SNAP benefits.”
He also claimed that a shutdown was “not an emergency” and that any crisis had been created by Congress’s failure to pass a funding bill.
McConnell rejected that reasoning, ordering the administration to tap the $6 billion in contingency funds previously set aside by Congress for emergencies and to report back on its actions by Monday.
Shortly before the Rhode Island ruling a U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston found that the administration’s suspension of SNAP payments was likely unlawful in a separate lawsuit filed by two dozen states and the District of Columbia.
Talwani held that the government was “statutorily mandated” to use the contingency reserve and had discretion to use additional previously appropriated funds to ensure SNAP payments continued.
While Talwani stopped short of immediately ordering the administration to issue benefits, she gave officials until Monday to inform her whether they would authorize full or reduced November SNAP benefits, using both contingency and other available funds.
“At core, Defendants’ conclusion that USDA is statutorily prohibited from funding SNAP because Congress has not enacted new appropriations for the current fiscal year is erroneous,” Talwani wrote. “To the contrary, Defendants are statutorily mandated to use the previously appropriated SNAP contingency reserve when necessary.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)z, which oversees SNAP, had warned that “the well has run dry” and said it lacked funds to pay November benefits during the shutdown, now entering its 31st day.
The administration and some Republicans in Congress argued that the contingency reserve—estimated at $5–6 billion—could not legally be accessed during a lapse in appropriations.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins reiterated that view Friday, saying, “By law, the contingency fund can only flow when the underlying fund is flowing.”
Talwani’s ruling rejected that interpretation, stating that the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act placed no such restrictions on use of the contingency funds and that the suspension of payments was “based on the erroneous conclusion that the Contingency Funds could not be used.”
The Trump administration is expected to appeal McConnell’s order.
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Iftikhar Ali is a veteran Pakistani journalist, former president of UN Correspondents Association, and a recipient of the Pride of Performance civil award
