The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended a temporary order that blocks lower-court rulings requiring full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments, prolonging uncertainty as Congress works to end a partial federal shutdown. The extension preserves the current status quo for a few more days; the order is set to expire shortly before midnight Thursday.
Because of the legal dispute, treatment of November benefits has varied by state: some recipients have received full monthly payments, others nothing, and some states issued partial disbursements. The Senate has approved legislation to reopen the government and replenish SNAP funds, and the House could take up the measure as soon as Wednesday. If the shutdown ends, the program that helps roughly 42 million Americans buy groceries would resume federal funding, though the timing for restoring full payments would differ across states.
The justices chose a temporary measure that sidesteps the broader legal questions raised by lower courts, which had ordered full funding during the shutdown. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole justice who said she would have immediately reinstated the lower-court orders; she did not provide further comment. Jackson had signed the initial stay that temporarily froze those payments.
State officials and advocates say it is generally simpler to resume full monthly allotments than to calculate and issue top-up payments where partial amounts already went out, but technical and administrative obstacles could complicate getting remaining funds to households in states that already made partial disbursements. Carolyn Vega, a policy analyst at Share Our Strength, warned that states that issued partial benefits may face extra hurdles when trying to send the rest.
The pause has created urgent need for many families. In Pennsylvania, for example, some residents received full November benefits on Friday while others remained unpaid days later. Jim Malliard, 41, of Franklin, who cares for his disabled wife and a teen daughter with serious medical needs, said by Monday he had received nothing and had only $10 left in his account. He described sleepless nights and mounting anxiety as he tried to stretch food supplies.
Local communities have sought to fill gaps. In Carthage, New York, teacher Ashley Oxenford set up a small front-yard food pantry to help neighbors affected by the lapse in benefits.
The dispute began after the administration paused SNAP funding when appropriations expired in October, triggering lawsuits and a series of swift, sometimes conflicting court rulings. On Oct. 31, two judges ordered at least partial SNAP funding; the administration initially provided up to about 65% of regular benefits. A district judge later ordered full funding for November, even if that required drawing on funds the administration had said were reserved for other emergencies. The Supreme Court temporarily paused that district-court order.
An appeals court on Monday directed that full funding resume, a mandate that was to take effect Tuesday night before the Supreme Court extended the pause. Meanwhile, the Senate’s bipartisan plan to reopen the government includes replenishing SNAP accounts. House Speaker Mike Johnson called members back to consider the deal. President Trump said Sunday that “it looks like we’re getting close to the shutdown ending,” though he had not publicly committed to signing the measure at that time.
In filings, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that courts should not reallocate government resources and that the appropriate remedy is for Congress to reopen the government. After Tuesday’s decision, Attorney General Pam Bondi thanked the court on social media for allowing lawmakers to continue their work. The plaintiffs — a coalition of cities and nonprofit groups that sued over the SNAP pause — faulted the Department of Agriculture for the disruption, saying the “chaos was sown by USDA’s delays and intransigence,” rather than by the district court’s efforts to reduce harm to families in need.
As the legal and political processes continue, advocates and state officials say the quickest path to ending the uncertainty is congressional action to restore funding and clear guidance from federal agencies on how to issue any missed or supplemental benefits.