Overview
- Federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island directed the Agriculture Department to finance SNAP using roughly $5 billion from an emergency fund.
- The orders prevent a planned lapse in benefits set for Saturday after four weeks without a budget, while leaving the government leeway on partial or full November funding.
- The Trump administration argued it lacked legal authority to draw on the fund, but Democratic attorneys general and governors from 25 states plus Washington, D.C., pressed to keep benefits running.
- SNAP reaches about 42 million people nationwide and costs roughly $8 billion per month, with recipients spread across states that backed both President Trump and Kamala Harris.
- Beneficiaries may not see immediate payments because reloading Electronic Benefit Transfer cards typically takes one to two weeks, and the court rulings are likely to be appealed as the broader shutdown continues.