PREVIOUSLY: ‘Treat Them With Dignity’: Humboldt Residents, Businesses Step Up to Help Local People at Risk of Losing SNAP Benefits

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A federal court has blocked the Trump administration from suspending SNAP, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, during the government shutdown. 

In his ruling, Judge John J. McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island told the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that the program must be funded using federal contingency funds, according to reporting from the Associated Press. SNAP, known as CalFresh here in California, provides monthly food benefits to approximately one in eight Americans.

“There is no doubt and it is beyond argument that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn’t already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food, for their family,” Judge McConnell said during a virtual hearing on Friday.

In a separate ruling, Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ordered the Trump administration to indicate by Monday whether it would provide full or partial SNAP benefits in November, according to The New York Times. 

The ruling comes days after two dozen states and the District of Columbia sued the federal government over its “unlawful refusal” to fund SNAP benefits during the ongoing government shutdown, despite possessing contingency funds to keep the federal food assistance program funded through November.

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UPDATE 2 P.M. California Attorney General Rob Bonta responds to Friday’s federal court ruling:

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today released the following statement in response to decisions issued by two federal district courts — one in Massachusetts and the other in Rhode Island — holding the Trump Administration accountable for unlawfully suspending Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the month of November. 

“Today, not one, but two federal district courts determined that the Trump Administration acted unlawfully when it chose to suspend SNAP benefits for the month of November. The Trump Administration knows that it has a legal duty to fund SNAP benefits, even during the current government shutdown. In fact, just last month, the USDA admitted as much in a document that it later deleted from its website,” said Attorney General Bonta. “SNAP benefits provide an essential hunger safety net to an average of 5.5 million Californians each month. Simply put, the stakes could not be higher. The Trump Administration must move expeditiously to fund November SNAP benefits.”

Earlier this week, Attorney General Bonta co-led a coalition of 23 attorneys general and three governors in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Secretary, Brooke Rollins, over the unlawful suspension of November SNAP benefits. The coalition also filed a request for a temporary restraining order, which the court considered during an in-person hearing yesterday. In that case, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued an order today stating that USDA’s SNAP “contingency reserve … must be deployed to fund SNAP benefits.” The court also determined that Attorney General Bonta and the coalition are “likely to succeed on their claim that [the Trump Administration’s] suspension of SNAP benefits is unlawful.” 

In a related lawsuit brought by a coalition of local governments, nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and workers’ rights organizations, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island issued an order directing USDA to fund November SNAP benefits using at least the over $5 billion in contingency funds that it has available.

A copy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts’ decision can be found here.