Two more days without food aid for 42 million people and it has been 12 days. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court extended an order blocking full SNAP payments ordered by lower courts, amid parliamentary action to end the government shutdown that would allow food aid payments to resume.
In effect, at least for two more days, the order remains a mess: People who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to feed their families received their full monthly benefits in some states that paid them, while others received nothing because their states did not make the effort in the White House’s image and likeness.
The order, consisting of three sentences without any explanation of the court’s reasoning, will expire before midnight Thursday.
The Senate approved a bill Monday to end the government shutdown, and the House is preparing to vote on it Wednesday afternoon.
Reopening the government would resume the program that helps 42 million Americans buy food, but it is unclear when full payments would resume.
The Supreme Court justices chose the path that was easiest for them, anticipating that the federal government shutdown would end soon, thus avoiding any legal ruling on the validity of lower court orders that ordered full payment to continue during the shutdown.
Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson was the only one of the nine justices who said she would have immediately revived the lower court’s orders, but she did not explain why she voted. Jackson was the judge who signed the initial order temporarily freezing the payments last Friday.
Beneficiaries in some states received their full monthly allocations, while they received nothing in other states. Some states have issued partial payments.
An intense legal battle
The Trump administration later chose to suspend SNAP funding starting November 1 due to the government shutdown. The decision sparked lawsuits and rulings over government power and access to food for about one in eight Americans.
The administration followed two rulings issued on October 31 by judges who ruled that the government must provide at least partial funding for SNAP.
Finally, it was announced that beneficiaries will receive up to 65% of their usual aid.
But last week, a judge ruled that the program must be fully funded in November, at the expense of using money the government said should be reserved for emergencies.
An appeals court ruled Monday that full funding must resume, and that requirement was scheduled to take effect Tuesday night before the Supreme Court extended the order blocking full SNAP payments with the prospect of a legislative deal.
In fact, the Senate on Monday approved legislation to reopen the federal government by replenishing SNAP funds.
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