Supreme Court extends stay of order requiring administration to pay full SNAP benefits for November
The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s administrative stay of a lower court order that the Trump administration immediately complete payment of full SNAP benefits for November.
The decision — over the noted sole objection of Justice Jackson herself — preserves the status quo as Congress appears on the cusp of ending the record-breaking government shutdown and fully funding SNAP through the fiscal year.
The court did not explain its decision.
Justice Jackson indicated that she would have denied the Trump administration’s application and required it to immediately pay out full November SNAP benefits during the pendency of action on Capitol Hill.
Justice Jackson granted the stay on Friday at the government’s request.
“The irreparable harms of allowing district courts to inject themselves into the shutdown and decide how to triage limited funds are grave enough to warrant a stay,” Solicitor General John Sauer wrote in arguing for the stay.
A placard inside a convenience store states “WE ACCEPT EBT” (Electronic Benefit Transfer), which will be halted tomorrow, weeks into the continuing U.S. government shutdown, in Thornton, Colorado, Oct. 31, 2025.
Mark Makela/Reuters
The move came as U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani on Monday blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a memo directing states to “undo” the issuance of full SNAP benefits, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs SNAP, told states to “immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025.”
The USDA initially told states on Friday that is was “working towards implementing November 2025 full benefit issuances” following an order by U.S. District Judge McConnell that the Trump administration fully fund SNAP for the month of November.
The administration said it would partially fund SNAP with approximately $4.5 billion, but that it needed the remaining funds to support WIC programs that feed children.
Based on the USDA’s initial guidance, 20 states said they had begun the process of issuing full November benefits.
“What you have right now is confusion of the agency’s own making,” Judge Talwani said during a hearing Monday.
