Washington — Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Freezes Order on Federal Food Benefits
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday temporarily froze a lower court order requiring the Trump administration to swiftly provide full federal food benefits to roughly 42 million Americans. She stated that it would give a federal appeals court more time to consider the request for extended emergency relief.
The intervention comes as the administration approached an end-of-day deadline set by a district court judge, which required them to cover full food assistance for November and use approximately $4 billion from other nutrition programs to do so. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit had initially upheld the lower court’s decision but later temporarily maintained the status quo.
In her brief order, Jackson noted that the administrative stay would facilitate the appeals court’s swift resolution of the Trump administration’s request for a longer pause in the district court’s order. She emphasized the need for “dispatch” in their decision-making process.
Background of the Dispute
The Trump administration claimed it had exhausted its contingency reserve, which amounted to over $5 billion, sufficient only for partial food assistance payments for the month. They warned that dipping into a designated fund for Child Nutrition Programs to cover the additional $4 billion needed would compromise these critical initiatives relied upon by millions of children daily.
A USDA official informed states on Friday that they were working towards complying with the district court’s order to provide full SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits to Americans enrolled in the program.
This development marks another turning point in the legal battle over SNAP benefits, which was initially halted due to the government shutdown last month. A group of cities and nonprofit organizations filed a lawsuit, leading to a series of court orders that aimed to ensure timely food assistance for low-income Americans.