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(NEXSTAR) – In a dramatic turn of events just before the deadline, two different judicial rulings on Friday mandated that the federal government must maintain funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) even amidst a government shutdown. Despite this decision, beneficiaries anticipating food aid on November 1 might still encounter delays.
These court decisions followed a month of intense negotiations since the shutdown commenced on October 1. Initially, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it would rely on emergency funds to sustain food assistance during the shutdown. However, the Trump administration later reversed this plan.
“In essence, resources are exhausted. As it stands, there will be no benefits distributed on November 1,” stated the USDA, which oversees the SNAP initiative.
A ruling from a federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday decreed that a $5 billion contingency reserve must be allocated to ensure SNAP’s continuity. However, the challenge remains that SNAP requires approximately $8 billion monthly to operate.
Democratic state attorneys general and governors who contested the suspension of SNAP benefits argued for the use of an additional $23 billion fund to continue providing food assistance to about one in eight Americans who are eligible. Nonetheless, the courts have allowed the Trump administration the discretion to decide whether to fund the program partially or completely for November.
Both judges gave the administration until Monday to provide an update on how they plan to move forward.
Will SNAP benefits be delayed in November?
Despite the courts’ rulings to fund SNAP (at least partially) through November, the immediate future was still unclear.
First off, the judges’ decisions could be appealed, posing a potential delay.
Households that qualify for SNAP typically see their benefits reload automatically on an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card, but each state has its own way of doing things. Many states reload benefits on a rolling basis, using recipients’ last names, case numbers or social security numbers to dole out benefits in batches.
In Arizona, for example, people whose last names start with A or B expect benefits to become available on the first of the month. Last names starting with Y or Z don’t expect new benefits until the 13th. Other states, like Connecticut, have a schedule that pays everyone in the first three days of the month. (See the schedule for your state’s benefits issuance here.)
In practice, that means many families are expecting EBT cards to be reloaded on Saturday, and even a 24-hour delay will force them to find other ways to get food. But others have weeks until they expect to get paid, and may have enough money left on their cards to tide them over.
To make things even more complicated, it’s not even clear that states would stick to their normal schedules if or when funding becomes available. Doing so could risk running out of money before everyone gets their allotment.
The situation is particularly chaotic if the federal government decides to only use the smaller $5 billion contingency fund to operate SNAP, which wouldn’t be enough to pay everyone out through the end of November.
“Such a partial payment has never been made — and for good reason,” the Trump administration argued in court filings. “It would require each state to recalculate the benefits owed based on the reduced funds available. USDA estimates that such a calculation, involving complicated system changes and processes dictated by statute and regulation, would take weeks, if it can be done at all.”
As of Friday afternoon, the USDA’s website had not been updated with next steps following the two rulings.