Supreme Court justice freezes order on full SNAP payments
by Allen Cone & Lisa Hornung · UPINov. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday night temporarily froze a lower court order that required the Trump administration to quickly provide full federal food benefits to roughly 42 million Americans.
In a flury of legal activity Friday night, an appeals court upheld a district judge's order and subsequently the Trump administration appealed to the high court regarding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments for November. Then, Brown issued the temporary stay.
This all came one day after Rhode Island District Judge Jack McConnell ordered full payments for November.
In a two-page order, the liberal justice said she issued the order to give the 1st Circuit Court time in Boston for a final resolution rather than a temporary stay. She issued her order around 9 p.m. EST, three hours after the appeals ruling.
The nine justices are assigned jurisdiction over the 13 circuits.
"Given the First Circuit's representations, an administrative stay is required to facilitate the First Circuit's expeditious resolution of the pending stay motion," Jackson, the latest confirmed justice, wrote.
She said the appeals court is expected to "issue with dispatch" a ruling. Brown's stay will terminate 48 hours after the resolution.
"The Supreme Court just granted our administrative stay in this case," Attorney General Palm Bondi posted on X. "Our attorneys will not stop fighting, day and night, to defend and advance President Trump's agenda."
Shortly after the circuit court decision at 6:08 p.m. EST, she wrote: "Judicial activism at its worst. A single district court in Rhode Island should not be able to seize center stage in the shutdown, seek to upend political negotiations that could produce swift political solutions for SNAP and other programs, and dictate its own preferences for how scarce federal funds should be spent."
The 1st District Circuit left in place a decision on Thursday by McConnell, who ordered the administration to pay out the full benefits within one day, saying, "People have gone without for too long."
The three-member appeals court's decision means the U.S. Department of Agriculture must take steps to disperse the electronic payments, which are staggered each month. Earlier Friday, the agency said it notified states that it is working to process the payments.
The panel was Chief Appellate Judge David Barron, appointed by President Barack Obama, and Gustavo Atavo Gelpi Jr. and Julie Rikelman, both picked by President Joe Biden.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in a 21-page Supreme Court filing: "Pulling billions of dollars from the Child Nutrition Programs would jeopardize those programs' ability to fully operate this year - putting at risk critical food-assistance initiatives relied upon by millions of children every day, and raiding a program that Congress did fund to instead extend one that Congress has not funded."
Sauer asked the high court to issue a stay by 9:30 p.m. "As explained, the government will be forced to make an irretrievable transfer of billions of dollars by the end of today, absent this intervention," he wrote. "And the harms of that decision will vest this evening, regardless of what this Court ultimately does with respect to the flawed decisions below. An administrative stay is badly needed."
Seven days ago, McDonnell and U.S. District Court of Massachusetts Judge Indira Talwani told the Trump administration to access available funds to continue. They were both nominated by Obama.
On Monday, the administration told the judge it only had reserved money to pay out 50% of the total $9 billion cost. Then, it was raised to 65%.
The judge directed USDA to find $4 billion "in the metaphorical couch cushions."
McConnell said the administration could use Section 32 funds, which the USDA uses to help with child nutrition programs. But the administration rejected that plan.
In the appeal, DOJ claimed that the judge's order "makes a mockery of the separation of powers." Lawyers said transferring funds would mean diverting money from Child Nutrition Programs.
"Unfortunately, by injecting itself with its erroneous short-term solution, the district court has scrambled ongoing political negotiations, extending the shutdown and thus undercutting its own objective of ensuring adequate funding for SNAP and all other crucial safety-net programs," they said.
Plaintiffs in the case, which are nonprofit organizations, asked for the full payment, and McConnell agreed.
"The evidence shows that people will go hungry, food pantries will be overburdened, and needless suffering will occur" if SNAP is not fully funded, he said.
"While the president of the United States professes a commitment to helping those it serves, the government's actions tell a different story," McConnell wrote in a written order.
The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1, and the shutdown is now the longest in history.
In every past shutdown, emergency funds have been used to fund the program.
McConnell also mentioned a social media post that Trump made, saying he refused to release any more funds until "the radical-left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before."
The post was used as evidence that the administration would ignore McConnell's order.