Photo: AFP
The Trump administration has 48 hours to make full SNAP benefit payments for November after the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied its request on Sunday (November 9) for a stay on an earlier ruling ordering it to immediately issue funding, per Newsweek.
The Supreme Court had previously issued a temporary administrative stay on SNAP funding while awaiting the appeals court decision. Following the First Circuit's ruling, the nation's highest court gave the administration two days to issue full payments for the program.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides monthly benefits to roughly 42 million low-income Americans to help them buy groceries. November’s payments have been disrupted amid the ongoing government shutdown and budget impasse in Congress, which authorizes the program’s budget.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on October 24 that it would not fund November benefits, prompting a lawsuit by a coalition of nonprofits, local governments, a union, and a food retailer. A district court later ordered the government to pay full benefits by November 3 or partial payments by November 5. After the USDA missed those deadlines, the court required full payments, which the administration sought to delay through its appeal.
In denying the stay, the First Circuit wrote that the government “failed to show it is entitled to the extraordinary relief of a stay,” adding that it hadn't refuted “the enormous injury to individuals around the country that a stay would cause."
The ruling came after the USDA issued a memo instructing states to reverse any steps taken to issue full payments, warning that failure to comply could result in loss of federal reimbursement for administrative costs. Despite the directive, some states have already distributed full benefits for November.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said his state will not attempt to claw back payments already made to about 360,000 recipients.
“People who depend on these benefits should never have been caught in the middle of this political fight,” Lamont said. “We have their back.”
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