"SNAP/EBT Food Stamp Benefits Accepted" is displayed on a screen inside a Family Dollar Stores Inc. store in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
The judge also said Trump officials failed to address a known funding distribution problem that could cause SNAP payments to be delayed for weeks or months in some states. He ordered the USDA to tap other contingency funds as needed.
"It’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here," McConnell said on Thursday.
Trump administration officials said in a court filing this week that they would pay just 65% of the roughly $9 billion owed to fund the SNAP program for November, prompting the judge to update his order — and give the administration just 24 hours to comply.
TWO JUDGES RULE TRUMP ADMIN MUST KEEP SNAP BENEFITS IN PLACE AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON
President of the United States, Donald Trump, speaks onstage during day 1 of the America Business Forum at Kaseya Center on November 05, 2025 in Miami, Florida. (Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for America Business Forum)
"The evidence shows that people will go hungry, food pantries will be overburdened, and needless suffering will occur," McConnell said. "That's what irreparable harm here means."
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Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI and other national news. She previously covered national politics at the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, with additional bylines in Politico Magazine, the Colorado Gazette and others. You can send tips to Breanne at Breanne.Deppisch@fox.com, or follow her on X at @breanne_dep.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-judge-rules-trump-must-fully-fund-snap-program-by-friday