A federal appeals court late on Sunday upheld a lower court ruling that requires President Donald Trump’s administration to fully fund food aid for 42 million low-income Americans during the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.
The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block Thursday’s decision by U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island, which ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to redirect $4 billion from other programs to ensure full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November.
However, the 1st Circuit’s ruling will not take immediate effect, as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday issued a temporary hold on McConnell’s order. Her injunction will remain in place for 48 hours following the appeals court’s decision.
Jackson’s stay, coupled with a series of conflicting lower court rulings and guidance from both the administration and individual states, has left the status of the nation’s primary anti-hunger program uncertain as the shutdown continues into its 41st day.
Administration Appeals, Blames Congress
The Trump administration had appealed the Rhode Island ruling, arguing that Judge McConnell lacked the authority to compel the USDA to locate funding “in the metaphorical couch cushions” to sustain full SNAP benefits during the shutdown.
In a directive issued Saturday, the USDA ordered state agencies, which oversee day-to-day distribution of food aid, to “undo” any efforts to issue full SNAP benefits before Jackson’s ruling, warning that noncompliance could result in financial penalties.
The administration maintained that it was Congress’s responsibility to resolve the funding crisis, not the courts. On Sunday, the Senate took procedural steps toward passing a measure to reopen the federal government and end the shutdown.
“We do not take lightly the government’s concern that money used to fund November SNAP payments will be unavailable for other important nutrition assistance programs,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Julie Rikelman on behalf of the three-judge panel.
However, Rikelman, appointed by a Democratic president, like her fellow panel members, said the court could not find that McConnell had abused his discretion. She added that ruling in favor of the administration would have resulted in “widespread harm” by “leaving tens of millions of Americans without food as winter approaches.”
The White House and USDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Monday.
SNAP Program Faces Funding Strain
SNAP provides monthly food assistance to eligible households earning less than 130% of the federal poverty level. For fiscal year 2026, the maximum monthly benefit is $298 for an individual and $546 for a two-person household.
The program typically costs between $8.5 billion and $9 billion per month. Due to the shutdown, the administration had initially planned to suspend SNAP benefits entirely in November, citing a lack of funds.
In response, a coalition of cities, nonprofit organizations, a labor union, and a food retailer filed a lawsuit challenging the move. Judge McConnell ruled that the USDA was obligated to either use emergency funds to partially finance SNAP after addressing “administrative and clerical burdens,” or to identify additional funding sources to fully fund November’s benefits.
The USDA initially opted to draw $4.65 billion from a contingency reserve, but McConnell later determined that this would be insufficient and too slow to implement. He ordered the agency to utilize $4 billion from a $23.35 billion child nutrition fund to close the gap and prevent disruptions to food aid distribution.
