Trump DOJ Appeals Ruling Ordering It to Fully Fund SNAP Benefits for November

The Department of Justice filed an appeal on Friday to a judge’s order that the administration pay full November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for approximately 42 million Americans.

“The district court’s order replaces the agency’s prudent choice in this situation—a temporary reduction in November SNAP benefits—with a significantly more tumultuous one with long-term consequences into next year,” the Friday filing states.

The appeal follows a week of back-and-forth between the Trump administration and the federal courts over whether SNAP payments should go out during the government shutdown.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it could not distribute emergency funds to pay for benefits in November in a timely manner — although past administrations have done so — delaying or even preventing crucial aid to go out to U.S. households.

A week ago, U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell Jr. ordered the USDA to make partial payments and use all contingency funds available to partially fund November SNAP benefits.

McConnell found that the Trump administration failed to comply and said they must fully fund the program for the month. He wrote in an order on Thursday that USDA’s actions had “arbitrarily and capriciously created this problem by ignoring the congressional mandate for contingency funds and failing to notify the states.”

In its appeal, the administration said McConnell’s order would jeopardize programs within the agency and would make it impossible to even partially fund them, should they be required to also cover the programs in December.

“There is no basis in law for the district court’s extraordinary injunction that directs an agency to deplete one program to fund another despite the lack of congressionally appropriated funds for the latter,” the appeal reads.