Two federal courts have ordered the Trump administration to continue paying out food benefits during the government shutdown, directing officials to draw from backup funding sources to prevent an interruption in aid.
The decisions, handed down Friday in separate cases in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, came after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would be forced to suspend payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The department had planned to freeze benefits starting next month, claiming it lacked authority to access federal reserves.
SNAP provides assistance to roughly one in every eight Americans and is widely considered a key component of the nation’s social safety net. The program costs about $8 billion each month and helps millions of families buy groceries.
A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia sued the administration this week, arguing that officials are legally obligated to use contingency and reserve funds to keep the program operational. The states said the government already has at least $5 billion available for emergency use and could also draw from an additional $23 billion fund.
Judges in both states agreed that the administration must continue issuing payments and report back by Monday on how it plans to do so.
It’s unclear how soon SNAP debit cards could be replenished following the rulings. Officials said it typically takes one to two weeks for benefits to be reloaded once funding is authorized.
