President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would withhold Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits until what he called “Radical Left Democrats” reopen the government, a post the White House did not clarify as a senior official declined to explain the comment. The statement added uncertainty to a court-ordered plan for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to deliver reduced SNAP payments this week while litigation and political disputes over funding continue.
The directive to issue partial benefits came from Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr., who on Saturday ordered the USDA to tap a contingency fund and make reduced payments to recipients by Wednesday. The Justice Department said the administration was working “diligently” to comply with the judge’s order. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted on X that the USDA will assist states with system changes required to implement the payments.
Under the court-ordered arrangement, the reduced allotment for a one-person household is $149 in 48 states and the District of Columbia, a figure that the USDA and states say has created administrative delays as systems are adjusted to issue the partial benefits. The timing of the payouts and the technical changes needed at state level have left some recipients facing uncertainty about when they will receive assistance for November.
The Rhode Island State Council of Churches on Tuesday asked the court to require full SNAP payments for November, arguing the government has funds available and seeking a temporary restraining order against the partial-payment plan. That filing underscores a broader legal and political battle over how to ensure benefits for low-income families during the government shutdown and amid litigation over appropriations.
Senate Republicans and Democrats have pushed competing approaches to cover the remaining shortfall. Democrats urged the administration to use Section 32 authority, a provision of federal law that controls certain agricultural funds, to cover an estimated remaining $4 billion needed to make full SNAP payments. Kentucky Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell demanded a response from the administration by Wednesday and scheduled a hearing for Thursday to address the issue, signaling continued congressional pressure on the executive branch to resolve the funding gap.
The White House official’s refusal to clarify the president’s post left open questions about whether the administration intended to link SNAP benefit distribution directly to negotiations over the government shutdown. Legal filings and the court order have focused the immediate obligation on the USDA to use contingency funds to deliver some aid while disputes over full funding continue in the courts and on Capitol Hill.
With the Wednesday deadline for partial payments approaching, state agencies are confronting practical challenges in implementing the reduced allotment and updating payment systems. The USDA’s pledge to assist states aims to alleviate those operational hurdles, but the broader dispute over how to finance full SNAP payments persists, with legal motions from advocacy groups and entities such as the Rhode Island State Council of Churches moving through federal court.
What follows in the coming days will hinge on the USDA’s ability to execute the court-ordered reduced payments by Wednesday, the administration’s response to McConnell’s demand and the outcome of the Thursday hearing, as well as any judicial action on requests for full payments or temporary restraining orders. The competing legal, administrative and political efforts will determine whether recipients receive partial benefits as ordered or whether further relief or adjustments will be ordered by courts or provided through alternative funding mechanisms.