New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference, Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. (Brittainy Newman/AP Photo)
Trump officials further urged the Supreme Court in a supplemental brief Monday afternoon to keep in place an emergency stay handed down by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson last week.
They cited the progress Congress has made towards resolving the ongoing shutdown, and added that, in their view, "the answer to this crisis is not for federal courts to reallocate resources without lawful authority."
"The only way to end this crisis — which the Executive is adamant to end — is for Congress to reopen the government," they added.
States have until tomorrow morning to file their response to the Supreme Court.
The judge had scolded the Trump administration for agreeing to fund just 65% of the SNAP benefits. "It’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here," McConnell said Thursday shortly before issuing the new order, which gave the USDA less than 24 hours to comply.
In appealing the case, Trump's legal team had argued that the judge's order "makes a mockery of the separation of powers," and accused McConnell of overstepping his powers as a federal judge.
"There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions," DOJ lawyers argued, describing his order as an "unprecedented injunction."
FEDERAL JUDGE RULES TRUMP MUST FULLY FUND SNAP PROGRAM BY FRIDAY
A U.S. Supreme Court police officer stands watch outside of the Supreme Court building on June 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration asked the court to intervene and stay a lower court ruling blocking it from deploying National Guard troops to the city of Chicago. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo)
The New Jersey attorney general, Matt Platkin, described the effort by USDA to halt full SNAP payments and shift the costs to states as the "most heinous thing" he had seen while in office.
"There are more children in New Jersey on SNAP than consists of the entire population of our state's largest city," he said, in an effort to contextualize the number of people in the Garden State alone who are served by the food aid program.
"The new guidance from USDA "claimed that the steps we've taken to follow its earlier guidance and a court order were ‘unauthorized,’ and that we must immediately undo the actions, or we would face steep penalties," Bonta said.
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Trump officials separately told the Supreme Court on Monday that they will continue to seek their emergency stay of another federal judge’s order requiring them to keep SNAP benefits fully funded during the ongoing government shutdown.
The administration "still intends to pursue a stay" of that order, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court in a filing, barring any eleventh-hour action from Congress to reach consensus and reopen the government after the more than 40-day government shutdown.
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/states-sue-trump-over-snap-benefits-program-remains-legal-limbo