As the United States federal government shutdown stretched into its 34th day, nearing a historic record, the Trump administration announced plans to partially finance the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Taking to Truth Social on Friday, President Donald Trump wrote, “I do NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT. Therefore, I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.”
According to a court filing on Monday, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that $4.65 billion from a contingency reserve would be allocated for November SNAP benefits.
The sum will likely cover approximately half of the allotments for eligible households, Xinhua news agency reported.
The decision followed a federal court ruling in Rhode Island on Friday, which required the USDA to utilise the contingency fund to ensure SNAP recipients continued receiving their benefits.
On the same day, a federal judge in Massachusetts stated in a separate case that the administration’s earlier plan to suspend SNAP payments from 1 November during the shutdown was likely ‘unlawful’.
However, the judge stopped short of compelling the government to release the funds immediately.
The administration had previously argued that it lacked legal authority to access between $5 billion and $6 billion in emergency reserves to maintain the programme, which typically needs more than $8 billion each month to operate fully.
SNAP remains the country’s largest anti-hunger initiative, supporting nearly 42 million low-income Americans, most of whom live at or below the federal poverty line.
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