WASHINGTON — Two federal judges have issued rulings this week that the federal government must continue funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) despite an ongoing federal shutdown. In Providence, John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted a temporary restraining order halting the administration’s plan to suspend SNAP benefits, finding that millions of vulnerable Americans face “irreparable harm” if the program is cut off.
Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to determine by Monday whether it will tap contingency funds to fund SNAP in November, concluding that the agency cannot lawfully freeze the program by simply citing a lack of appropriations.
Both rulings emerge amid a government shutdown that began October 1 and disrupted regular congressional funding. In Rhode Island, the court emphasized that the USDA still has access to roughly $5.25 billion in contingency funds — and even a larger reserve of about $23 billion — which plaintiffs argue can and must be used to keep benefits flowing. In Massachusetts, Judge Talwani rejected the government’s argument that contingency funds cannot be used for SNAP without a fresh appropriation, stating that Congress already provided a reserve “when necessary to carry out program operations.”
Together, the rulings signal judicial insistence that, even during a lapse in regular appropriations, federal anti‑hunger programs like SNAP cannot be paused when statutory funding vehicles exist. They also raise practical questions about when and how beneficiaries — more than 42 million Americans rely on SNAP each month — will actually receive their benefits as states and the USDA scramble to implement the orders.
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