Two Federal Judges Order the Government to Use Emergency Funds for November SNAP Benefits
Two federal judges ruled Friday that the administration must use the Agriculture Department's contingency fund to keep food assistance flowing in November — the morning after Jacksonville was told no benefits would be issued November 1, with a plan now due Monday.
The legal ground under November food assistance shifted on Friday. Two federal judges ruled that the Trump administration is legally required to use the U.S. Department of Agriculture's contingency funding to continue at least partial payments to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition's summary of the rulings. SNAP provides food assistance to about 42 million people, about one in eight in the United States.
In Boston, a federal judge ruled on October 31 that the administration's refusal to use the contingency fund was “contrary to law” and called its argument that the fund could not be used during the government shutdown “erroneous.” The judge gave the Agriculture Department until November 3 to provide a plan for issuing at least partial payments. In a separate ruling later the same day in Rhode Island, a second judge granted a temporary restraining order and gave the administration until the end of the day November 3 to make full payments, or until November 5 to come up with a way of administering partial benefits.
The rulings arrived one day after this station reported that November benefits would not be issued on November 1 as the shutdown entered its second month, a lapse affecting about 2.9 million Floridians, including about 187,000 people in Duval County. The judges' orders do not put money on cards this morning by themselves — they set the Monday deadline for the department's plan — and the shutdown itself, now in its 34th day, continues with no funding deal in place.
For Jacksonville households, the practical position on Sunday morning is unchanged at the checkout and changed in the courts: November benefits have not been issued, two courts have now said the emergency fund must be used, and the next dated step is the administration's plan, due November 3 — the day before Election Day.
