Overview
- Two rulings on Friday require the USDA to continue SNAP by using contingency funds and to report compliance plans to the courts on Monday.
- A Rhode Island judge deemed the refusal to use $5.25 billion in reserves arbitrary and ordered immediate distribution, directing the agency to assess a separate fund of about $23 billion if needed.
- The USDA had planned to halt payments on November 1 after stating during the shutdown that “the well has run dry.”
- President Trump said he would provide funding if courts clarify the legal path and that his lawyers are seeking that guidance.
- Operational steps to load EBT cards may take one to two weeks, so food banks and states are deploying stopgaps, with Louisiana planning partial November 1 funding and groups like Goodwill aiding local efforts.