US supreme court issues emergency order blocking full Snap food aid payments | US federal government shutdown 2025
The Supreme Court issued an emergency order temporarily blocking full payment of Snap food aid.
The high court’s order comes after the Trump administration asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block a judge’s order directing it to distribute the full monthly food stamp allocations for November amid a U.S. federal government shutdown.
After that blocking request was denied, the Trump administration turned to the Supreme Court in another attempt to block the order to fully fund the Snap food aid payments.
The stay request reads: “If forced to transfer funds to Snap to make the full November allocations, the government has no way of recovering these expenses – which constitutes irreparable harm par excellence. Once these payments are made, all indications are that the states will disburse them quickly.
“There is every reason to believe that if the shutdown persists, the lower court will not order the government to tap these funds again in December to support Snap, which would dig a bigger hole in the budget for child nutrition programs.”
The motion – which was filed around 7 p.m. ET – also requested that the Supreme Court grant “immediate administrative stay of the district court’s orders prior to 9:30 p.m.” on Friday.
Shortly after 9:30 p.m., Attorney General Pam Bondi shared a note on
US District Judge John J McConnell Jr had given the Trump administration until Friday to make payments through Snap, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, after the administration said last month it would not pay benefits for November due to the shutdown.
Patrick Penn, deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Agriculture, wrote in a memo to states on Friday that the government will “complete the necessary processes” to fully fund Snap for now and that funds will be available Friday.
But also Friday, the Trump administration asked the appeals court to stay any court order requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund.
The court filing came even as Britt Cudaback, a spokeswoman for Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, said Friday that some Snap beneficiaries in the state had already received their full November payments as of Thursday night.
“We have received confirmation that payments have been made, including members indicating that they can now view their balances,” she said.
The court faces long weeks of uncertainty over the food program that serves about one in eight Americans, most of them low-income.
In separate rulings last week, two judges ordered the government to pay at least part of the benefits using an emergency fund. It initially said it would cover half, but then said it would cover 65%.
