Millions of Americans grappling with food insecurity will face more uncertainty this week after the US supreme court enabled the Trump administration to continue withholding funds for food stamps.
In an administrative stay issued on Tuesday, the highest court upheld the administration’s request to extend a pause on a federal judge’s ruling that would have required $4bn in funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Snap, the food aid relied on by 42 million people, to be distributed. The funding freeze has been given two additional days, and will now remain in place until midnight on Thursday.
With the House planning to vote Wednesday on a package that could spell the end to the longest government shutdown in US history, the administration has dug its heels in on fully funding the essential food program, insisting the funds will only be cleared when Congress comes to a compromise.
“The only way to end this crisis – which the executive is adamant to end – is for Congress to reopen the government,” solicitor general D John Sauer wrote in the Trump administration’s filing.
Program benefits are funded federally but are administered by local and state governments. The funding lapse, a first for the largest anti-hunger program in the US, has caused chaos in states that were left in the lurch after they issued benefits they believed were authorized prior to the supreme court’s decision.
On Sunday, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) directed states to “immediately undo” the aid already provided to low-income Americans. It remains unclear whether funds already issued by states will be reimbursed by the federal government, where coffers are already running low.
“To the extent states sent full Snap payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized,” Patrick Penn, the deputy undersecretary of agriculture, wrote in a to state Snap directors on Saturday. “Accordingly, states must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full Snap benefits for November 2025.”
The back-and-forth has left chaos and confusion in its wake as the USDA threatened states with penalties if they did not comply.
In a filing in the first circuit court of appeals a coalition of states argued that returning hundreds of millions of dollars would “risk catastrophic operational disruptions for the States, with a consequent cascade of harms for their residents”. Several state officials have already vowed to fight the orders.
“If President Trump wants to penalize states for preventing Americans from going hungry, we will see him in court,” Maura Healey, the Democratic governor of Massachusetts, said in a statement on Sunday.
“There is a chaos, and it is an intentional chaos, that we are seeing from this administration,” Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland, said in an interview on CBS on Sunday, noting there had been four different measures of guidance in only six days.
As the political battles continue, those who rely on the food aid have had to face increased instability.
With only half of November’s allotment issued to beneficiaries, pressure on food banks and local agencies trying to keep pace with the need has been immense. With the Thanksgiving holidays quickly approaching and schools closing, those needs will sharply rise if funds are not soon restored.
“It’s hard to look someone in the face who’s telling you they can’t feed their family, and be able to try to guide them to other avenues to try to get some food for their household,” Stacy Smith, a government worker, told the Guardian this week.
“We have community food banks, and we have food pantries, and they’re already maxed out.”
Michael Sainato and Anna Betts contributed reporting
