In a decisive move, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has issued a temporary halt on a mandate that required the Trump administration to complete full Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) payments for November by the impending Friday deadline. This pause affects part of the payments while awaiting a crucial decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit regarding the administration’s appeal to block the order.

Justice Jackson’s intervention does not offer a verdict on the case’s fundamental legal issues but provides a temporary relief for the Trump administration, which had approached the Supreme Court with urgency earlier that Friday evening. Her order underscores the importance of an “administrative stay” to enable the First Circuit to swiftly address the pending motion for a stay.

By default, Justice Jackson is responsible for emergency appeals originating from the First Circuit, thus making her the arbiter of this immediate request. This development comes as the administration seeks to navigate the legal challenges surrounding the SNAP payments, drawing significant attention to the ongoing judicial process.

“Given the First Circuit’s representations, an administrative stay is required to facilitate the First Circuit’s expeditious resolution of the pending stay motion,” Jackson wrote. 

Jackson ruled on the immediate request because she handles emergency appeals arising from the First Circuit by default.

“Our attorneys will not stop fighting, day and night, to defend and advance President Trump’s agenda,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on the social platform X.

SNAP provides roughly 42 million people with grocery assistance, and the program’s funding lapse has become one of the most visible signs of the government shutdown as it stretches into a sixth week. 

Cities and private groups sued the administration as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the benefit would be cut off starting in November, the first time the program has dried up completely. 

U.S. District Judge John McConnell initially ruled the administration needed to, at minimum, deplete a $5 billion SNAP contingency fund, rejecting arguments that it was only intended for hurricanes and other unforeseen emergencies. 

But it is not enough to cover the full November benefits, and McConnell said partial payments would only be lawful if they could be provided expeditiously. States and the Trump administration have acknowledged the recalculations would likely spark weekslong delays. 

So on Thursday, McConnell ruled the administration needed to move roughly $4 billion from child nutrition programs to fund the remaining gap for the November payments, sparking the administration’s last-minute appeal ahead of Friday’s deadline. 

“If allowed to stand, this decision will metastasize and sow further shutdown chaos,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote of the lower ruling. 

A three-judge panel on the 1st Circuit declined to immediately intervene earlier Friday evening. 

By the time the administration reached the Supreme Court, the USDA had already sent a letter to regional SNAP directors indicating it was working to comply and process the payments.

Ongoing shutdown, ongoing SNAP uncertainty

The lapse in SNAP funding has become a prominent, visible repercussion of the record-breaking government shutdown, which has left government employees without a paycheck sparked increased airline delays and halted certain government services. 

One day earlier, U.S. District Judge John McConnell ruled the administration needed to provide full SNAP payments for November by Friday. 

McConnell, an appointee of former President Obama, said administration’s plan to deplete an emergency fund and provide partial SNAP benefits for November wasn’t sufficient because of expected delays with the recalculations. 

He ruled officials needed to tap a separate source of child nutrition program funds to fill the remaining gap. 

“But it obviously was not unlawful for the agency to see things differently — and refuse to starve Peter to feed Paul, by gambling school lunches tomorrow in exchange for more SNAP money today,” Sauer wrote to the Supreme Court. “Indeed, that sort of hard tradeoff is precisely the sort of decision that Congress committed to agency discretion and placed beyond the reach of judges.” 

A group of cities, churches, nonprofits and a union that challenged the lapse has argued McConnell’s ruling should stand.

“The district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that their decision to make partial payments despite the attending weeks or months of delays was arbitrary,” they wrote in court filings.