Millions of Americans facing food insecurity will face uncertainty this week after the US Supreme Court ruled that food funds will be frozen.
In an administrative proceeding released on Tuesday, the highest court upholds the request of the administration to postpone the judgment of the federal amount with 52 million people, to be distributed. The freeze has been extended for two more days, and will now remain in place until midnight on Thursday.
With the House planning to vote on Wednesday on a package that could spell the end of the longest government shutdown in the entire US program, Congressional shutdown funds are expected to come together.
“The only way to end this crisis – that the executive is ultimately targeted – is for Congress to reopen the government,” Solicitor General D Juan Suer
The benefits program is federally funded but administered by local and state governments. The cut in funding, a first for the largest anti-hunger program in the US, has caused uproar in states that were left with what they believed to be a pre-Supreme Court decision.
On Sunday, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) urged states to “immediately revoke” the aid provided to American citizens. It remains unclear if the funds issued by the states will be paid by the Federal Government, whose coffers are already depleted.
“To the extent that states have submitted complete SNAP payment files for November 2025, this is not authorized,” Patrick Penn, the Deputy Undersecretary of Agriculture, wrote in a Snap Directors Brief on Saturday. “Thus, states must cease any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits by November 2025.”
The back-and-forth left chaos and misery in its wake as the United States threatened sanctions if they didn’t comply.
In a filing in the first circuit court that appealed a coalition of states argued that the millions of dollars “have a consequence cascrophic operational diseases of the disaster that” have a consequence cascrophic operational diseases of harms for their residents”. Many state officials have sworn to fight the orders.
“If President Trump wants to punish states for keeping Americans from going hungry, we’ll see him in court,” Maura Healey, the Democratic governor of Massachusetts, said in a statement on Sunday.
“There is chaos, and it’s a deliberate chaos, that we’ve seen from this administration,” said Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland, who has four measures of guidance in just six days.
As the political battles continue, those who rely on food aid must face further deprivation.
Only half of the allocation in November was issued to beneficiaries, the pressure on food banks and local agencies that want to continue to meet the demand. With the holidays quickly approaching
“It’s hard to look someone in the face who tells you they can’t feed their family, and maybe try to lead them to other paths in their home,” Stacy Smith, a government worker today.
“We have community food banks, and we have food pantries, and they’re maxed out.”
Michael Sainto and Anna Betts contributed reporting