A federal appeals court took a decisive step late Sunday by rejecting the Trump administration’s request to pause an order that mandates full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments during the ongoing government shutdown.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, composed of three judges, upheld a previous decision, stating that the government’s approach to issuing partial food stamp payments would result in significant delays. This, according to the panel, was a clear misuse of discretion by the administration.

In the opinion written by U.S. Circuit Judge Julie Rikelman, the court highlighted that the administration was aware of the technical challenges involved in processing partial payments, as it was an unprecedented task. Yet, no measures were taken to address these issues in the subsequent three weeks.

Rikelman pointed out that the administration had not conducted any calculations, prepared necessary data, or undertaken logistical efforts to manage a potential shortfall.

The decision maintains U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s directive, which obliges officials to cover the shortfall in November SNAP payments by reallocating approximately $4 billion from child nutrition funds. The Trump administration had argued that this would jeopardize the child nutrition programs.

The payments remain on temporary hold under a Friday night ruling from Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, but the appeals court’s decision begins a 48-hour clock for Jackson’s hold to expire. 

It also comes as lawmakers on Capitol Hill move closer to reopening the government. Just before the appeals ruling, the Senate advanced a vehicle to end the 41-day shutdown after a group of Democrats joined Republicans to provide the necessary votes. 

The 1^st Circuit panel comprised two appointees of former President Joe Biden — Rikelman and U.S. Circuit Judge Gustavo Gelpí — and U.S. Circuit Judge David Barron, an appointee of former President Barack Obama. 

The Trump administration appealed after McConnell, another Obama appointee, ruled the administration was acting arbitrarily and capriciously by not transferring the child nutrition funds to fully fund SNAP during the shutdown.

Earlier, McConnell had ruled the administration needed to, at a minimum, deplete a $5 billion SNAP emergency fund.  

It was not enough to cover November benefits, and McConnell said officials needed to devise a way to recalculate partial payments expeditiously or tap other funding sources to fill the remaining gap. After the government said partial benefits would cause delays, the judge ordered the full payments be sent by last Friday. 

“That unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers,” the Justice Department wrote in court filings. 

“The core power of Congress is that of the purse, while the Executive is tasked with allocating limited resources across competing priorities. But here, the court below took the current shutdown as effective license to declare a federal bankruptcy and appoint itself the trustee, charged with picking winners and losers among those seeking some part of the limited pool of remaining federal funds,” the filing continued.