US government shutdown: Supreme Court extends block on Snap payments; hopes rise for potential end to standoff

The US Supreme Court had, once again, refused to order the Trump administration to provide full funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap). Instead it has chosen to allow congress additional time to resolve the matter through a possible agreement tied to ending the government shutdown.

In an order issued on Tuesday (local time), the justices extended a temporary halt on a lower court ruling that had required the administration to release full food benefit payments. The stay remains active until November 13, effectively putting the funding issue on hold without the court examining the legal arguments of either side.




The dispute reached the Supreme Court after Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who handles emergency requests from the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals’ jurisdiction, paused a district court-imposed deadline for the payments while the appeals judges reviewed the case.

Jackson, one of the court’s liberal justices, approved an emergency request from the administration, even though the matter involves a programme strongly supported by Democrats. In the latest order, Jackson stated she disagreed with the court’s decision to keep the pause in place on full Snap funding.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are racing to reach a broader deal. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on Wednesday on a plan to reopen the government through January 30. That proposal includes full-year funding for several federal agencies and services, covering food assistance and benefits for veterans.

The department of justice has warned the Supreme Court that judicial intervention risks complicating shutdown negotiations.

Government lawyers, according to USA Today, have argued that the lower courts introduced a “massively inappropriate new variable” and disrupted the operation of Snap. Solicitor General John Sauer wrote, "Congress appears to be on the brink of breaking the deadlock, though that outcome is unsure.”

“The district court’s unlawful orders risk upsetting that compromise and throwing into doubt how innumerable critical federal programs will be funded," Sauer was further quoted by the agency.

The legal fight began when the US district judge John McConnell in Rhode Island ordered the administration to use contingency Snap funds and other available money to ensure full November payments reached states by November 7. The appeals court sided with McConnell, ruling that the danger of leaving tens of millions of Americans without adequate food support outweighed the administration’s objections to using alternative funds.

Snap benefits

The groups opposing the Trump administration have argued that Snap recipients had “now gone ten days without the help they need to afford food,” warning that millions of Americans, including children, were already going hungry.

Almost 42 million people across the country rely on food stamps, which are distributed in phases throughout the month. According to Code for America, an organisation that helps governments improve access to public benefit programmes, about 27 million of them should have received their payments by Monday.

US households, according to CNN, on an average get roughly $350 a month to purchase food, but for many families, that money runs out quickly.