Obama Judge Rebuked as Supreme Court Halts SNAP Spending Mandate [WATCH]

The Supreme Court on Friday granted a temporary reprieve to the Trump administration, allowing it to withhold roughly $4 billion in funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) while legal challenges continue over how to sustain the nation’s food aid during the ongoing government shutdown.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued an administrative stay pausing a lower court order that had required the administration to fully fund November payments for approximately 42 million low-income people in America.

🚨 BREAKING: Supreme Court rules IN FAVOR of President Trump not being forced to spend money the government doesn’t have for SNAP during the shutdown, for now.

Absurd this is a question.

You can’t come up with money out of nothing. pic.twitter.com/pG8Lz31bJZ

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 8, 2025

The stay will remain in effect until two days after the Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rules on the administration’s request to limit payments.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court has just ruled that Trump is NOT A KING!

The GRANTED Trump‘s emergency appeal to temporarily HALT the judge‘s order that the administration pay full SNAP benefits!

Watch the liberals meltdown that KING TRUMP isn’t giving them their handouts. pic.twitter.com/XE0zZ1GqyF

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) November 8, 2025

This Could Be the Most Important Video Gun Owners Watch All Year

The legal battle began when U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Thursday to allocate $4 billion in contingency funds to fully support the SNAP program through November.

McConnell, appointed by former President Barack Obama, said the administration’s prior decision to fund only 65% of benefits would leave families without adequate food assistance.

“It’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here,” McConnell said before issuing his order.

The judge also directed the USDA to use all available funds, including a $23.35 billion child-nutrition account partially supported by tariff revenue, to cover the full monthly cost of between $8.5 and $9 billion in SNAP benefits.

The Trump administration swiftly appealed the ruling, asking the First Circuit to halt McConnell’s injunction.

In its filing, the Justice Department argued that the order “makes a mockery of the separation of powers” and forces the USDA to spend money not appropriated by Congress.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the decision would “sow further shutdown chaos” and warned it could “prompt a run on the bank by way of judicial fiat.”

“There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,” the administration said in its filing.

The government’s lawyers added, “This is a crisis, to be sure, but it is a crisis occasioned by congressional failure, and that can only be solved by congressional action.”

McConnell accused the administration of withholding funds “for political reasons” and said officials failed to comply with an earlier order requiring SNAP payments before they lapsed on Nov. 1.

“The government did nothing to ensure that the money would be paid on Wednesday,” he said, emphasizing that this was the first time in the program’s 60-year history that benefits had lapsed.

The USDA complicated matters Friday when it informed states that funds would be available to pay full SNAP benefits, even as the administration continued to seek relief from the order.

Some states, including New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, moved quickly to issue full payments to avoid further disruption.

By Friday evening, Wisconsin, Oregon, Hawaii, and Pennsylvania confirmed that full benefits had been released, while Colorado, North Carolina, and Illinois said distributions would occur over the weekend.

Delaware also began using state funds to provide emergency payments to affected recipients.

Sauer told the Supreme Court that several states acted quickly to “seize what they could of the agency’s finite set of remaining funds” before an appeal could be filed.

SNAP benefits, previously known as food stamps, provide assistance for groceries to low-income households.

Depending on income, benefits can reach up to $298 per month for single individuals and $546 for two-person households.

As the case proceeds, millions of Americans remain uncertain about when or whether their food aid will arrive.

The First Circuit’s pending decision will determine whether the USDA must resume full funding immediately or await further congressional action.

The dispute highlights the broader challenges facing federal agencies as the Democrat led government shutdown continues to strain public programs and resources nationwide.