BOSTON — A federal judge in Boston indicated Thursday she will likely order the Trump administration to release emergency funds to states to continue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which the administration planned to suspend for the first time due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.
The hearing in U.S. District Court came after 25 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit demanding the government use contingency funds to prevent a cutoff of food assistance to more than 41 million Americans relying on SNAP, one of the nation’s largest anti-hunger safety net programs.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, appointed by former President Barack Obama, expressed skepticism about the administration’s decision to suspend SNAP benefits starting November 1, calling it an avoidable and harmful move amid a government funding lapse.
“If you don’t have money, you tighten your belt,” Talwani said in court. “You are not going to make everyone drop dead because it’s a political game someplace.” She stressed there is a statutory process for dealing with funding shortfalls that involves reducing benefits equitably rather than a wholesale suspension.
The Trump administration argued that continuing benefits without an active congressional appropriation would violate federal law and that partial payments would be administratively complicated, requiring weeks of recalculations. However, the judge questioned how denying benefits to millions of people—the majority of whom are families with children—does not constitute an emergency.
The states’ lawsuit charged the administration with unlawfully withholding billions from contingency funds earmarked for SNAP operations during funding lapses. Officials highlighted the public health repercussions, increased hardship for children, higher government healthcare costs, and harm to retailers dependent on SNAP transactions if benefits stop.
During the hearing, Talwani hinted that any ruling could have a nationwide effect, emphasizing fairness for recipients countrywide regardless of their state of residence. While the Supreme Court has cautioned against broad nationwide injunctions, it has not disallowed them in such instances.
SNAP eligibility in 2025 is restricted to families whose net income is below the federal poverty line—roughly $31,000 for a family of four. The program provides food assistance to approximately 1 in 8 Americans, including an estimated 500,000 Native Americans across tribal lands.
As the government shutdown extends into its fifth week, with the USDA warning full benefits may not be funded after October, states, food banks, and recipients have scrambled to prepare for an unprecedented SNAP interruption.
Meanwhile, some states have pledged to use their own funds to partially backfill SNAP benefits for their residents to mitigate the impact.
The judge said she expected to issue a ruling soon that could compel the administration to deploy billions of dollars in emergency funds to sustain SNAP benefits during the funding lapse, although the relief may not be complete or immediate.
This decision will determine whether millions of Americans facing economic hardship amid inflation and rising food insecurity continue to receive vital nutrition assistance as the political impasse over federal spending continues.