Supreme Court gives Trump green light to withhold billions in food aid — for now

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to temporarily withhold roughly $4 billion in payments for the federal SNAP food assistance program, despite an earlier court order requiring the money to be distributed.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who handles emergency applications from the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, issued the brief order granting a temporary stay while the appeals court weighs the administration’s challenges, NBC News reported Friday night.

The ruling means some SNAP payments for November will be temporarily withheld.

The decision pauses an order from U.S. District Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island, who on Thursday directed the government to deliver full benefits to states by Friday night. The judge had sharply criticized the administration for delays that, he said, have likely caused SNAP recipients to go hungry, NBC News reported.

“The administration has said that because of the government shutdown, there is only enough money to pay partial benefits this month,” according to the network. “It had previously agreed to pay about $5 billion from a SNAP contingency fund but objected to paying another $4 billion from a separate program, arguing McConnell had no authority to force it to.”

Earlier Friday, the Agriculture Department appeared ready to make full payments. Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary of the Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, told states in a memo obtained by NBC News that USDA “will complete the processes necessary” to issue full SNAP benefits for the time being.

Roughly 42 million Americans rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP. The appeals court has said it intends to act “as quickly as possible” on the administration’s appeal, according to media reports.