Federal Courts Rule Administration Must Fund SNAP

By: Sierra News Posted On: November 07, 2025 View: 3

SACRAMENTO, CA – Following lawsuits filed by California and other states, as well as a coalition of organizations, California families are beginning to see their full SNAP benefits restored on their EBT cards. On November 6, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. in Providence, Rhode Island, ordered the Trump administration to immediately issue 100% of funding for 5.5 million California SNAP recipients. As a result, benefits are now being made available on recipients’ cards, allowing families to access the food they need.

SNAP benefits are distributed on EBT Cards

On October 28, California, along with more than 22 other states, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its unlawful refusal to fund SNAP/CalFresh benefits during the nearly month-long federal government shutdown. Despite having funds available to support this critical program for November, the administration’s actions temporarily deprived 5.5 million Californians of $1.1 billion in food assistance.

On October 31, two federal courts determined that the federal government is statutorily mandated to use previously appropriated SNAP contingency funds during the government shutdown to continue supporting this essential program, which protects over 42 million Americans—including 5.5 million Californians—from hunger. The courts also found that the USDA has $23 billion in Section 32 funds that it could use for SNAP.

Consequently, the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island ruled that the administration must immediately restore full benefits to families, including the 5.5 million California recipients.

While this ruling ensures that SNAP benefits are restored for November, it does not guarantee funding for the program in December. As the government shutdown—the longest in U.S. history—continues, these issues remain under debate. It is currently unclear whether the court’s ruling will extend into the month of December.

The Department of Justice, in a filing on Friday with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, stated that Judge McConnell had no authority to order the payout, asserting that judges have no power to appropriate or spend federal money. “There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,” the department said. “This is a crisis, to be sure, but it is a crisis occasioned by congressional failure, and that can only be solved by congressional action.”

Americans whose income is less than 130% of the federal poverty line are eligible for SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps, which top out monthly at $298 for one-person households and $546 for two-person households. The federal poverty line for a two-person household is $21,150, which means that if your household income is under $28,000 in a year, you would be eligible for the full SNAP benefit.