Trump administration must pay food aid benefits within days, judge says

2/11/2025 13:01

A federal court in Rhode Island on Saturday ordered the Trump administration to make full food aid benefit payments by Monday, or partial payments by Wednesday, while acknowledging the "irreparable harm" that exists without their timely payment. The Rhode Island case is one of two lawsuits filed to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture's suspension of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, known as SNAP or food stamps, which aid low-income Americans.



In a ruling issued on Friday, Judge John J. McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island rejected the USDA's argument that it could not fund SNAP because of the ongoing federal shutdown. McConnell's Saturday order gave President Donald Trump's administration a Monday deadline to present a plan to pay full benefits on that day, or at least partial payments two days later.



"There is no question that the congressionally approved contingency funds must be used now because of the shutdown; in fact, the President during his first term issued guidance indicating that these contingency funds are available if SNAP funds lapse due to a government shutdown," McConnell wrote in the order.