Supreme Court issues emergency order to block full SNAP food aid payments

The Supreme Court issued an emergency order to temporarily block a lower court's requirement that the Trump administration fully fund SNAP food aid payments during the government shutdown. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson granted the administration's request to pause the full payment order, allowing only planned partial payments while an appeals court considers the matter. This move came after a judge had ordered full payments, and several states, including Wisconsin, Oregon, and Hawaii, quickly issued the full November benefits before the Supreme Court's intervention. The Trump administration argued that these states were attempting to exhaust remaining funds and that it lacked the authority to spend more than was available in a contingency fund, claiming Congress needed to appropriate additional money. They also contended that the judge's order usurped legislative and executive authority. The administration had previously decided to cover only 65% of the maximum monthly benefits due to the shutdown, a decision that could have left some recipients with no aid for November. This... download the app to read more