President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to withhold critical food aid until the government shutdown is over, despite his administration’s assertion to a court earlier this week that it would continue funding partial benefits.
The benefits provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, “will be given only when those Radical Left Democrats open up the government, which they can easily do, and not before!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The post comes a day after the administration said it would abide by a court order and tap a roughly $5 billion contingency fund to keep partial benefits flowing into November. The Justice Department, which made the filings, declined to comment.
The White House and the US Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Should Trump follow through on canceling the aid, it would abruptly leave millions of people without the monthly federal assistance they rely on to purchase food. Nearly 42 million Americans receive SNAP benefits, which amount to roughly $350 per household per month on average.
The move would also raise fresh legal questions, after more than two dozen states sued last week to force the administration to keep at least some of the aid flowing.
“This is immoral. See you in court,” Skye Perryman, the CEO of Democracy Forward, a legal organization involved in a separate lawsuit that also sought continuation of the SNAP benefits, wrote on X in response to Trump’s post.
Trump officials had previously planned to cut off the benefits beginning November 1, citing concerns over whether they could legally use the contingency fund or move money from other accounts. But the court indicated that the administration could do both to fully fund the more than $9 billion of aid, essentially giving Trump officials the choice of paying partial or full benefits. The administration opted only to use the contingency fund to pay out partial benefits.
A federal judge, meanwhile, scheduled a Thursday hearing to consider a fresh request for an order requiring the Trump administration to provide Americans with their full food stamp benefits for November.
The hearing before US District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island will be the latest episode in a dramatic showdown over the benefits that is playing out in two different federal courts.
After the government notified McConnell of its plans on Monday that it would provide only partial SNAP benefits, a coalition of cities, nonprofits, unions and small businesses that brought the legal challenge pressed the judge to intervene yet again, arguing USDA’s choice did not comport with the requirements of his order last week.
The plaintiffs are asking the judge to issue a new order that would force the administration to tap into a separate pot of money to provide SNAP benefits for November.
Thursday’s hearing is set for 3:30 p.m. ET.
