Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Block Full SNAP Payments Amid Shutdown Funding Battle

The Justice Department seeks an emergency stay to halt billions in food stamp disbursements ordered by a lower court — as millions of Americans face uncertainty and state leaders vow to deliver aid despite political gridlock.

WASHINGTON, D.C. | The Trump administration filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court late Friday seeking permission to withhold full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November, escalating a legal and political battle over food aid funding during the ongoing government shutdown.

The move came just hours after the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the administration’s emergency stay request, affirming a lower court order that required the government to pay out full SNAP benefits to more than 42 million Americans.

In the filing, Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the high court to intervene “by no later than 9:30 p.m. Friday,” warning that distributing billions in benefits could result in an “irretrievable transfer of funds” that might undermine other federal nutrition and social welfare programs.

“Once those billions are out the door, there is no ready mechanism for the government to recover those funds — to the significant detriment of other critical social programs,” Sauer wrote in the government’s brief.

The emergency application was directed to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who oversees such matters for the 1st Circuit. Jackson may decide on the stay individually or refer the matter to the full Supreme Court.

Trump Officials Cite Dubious Estimates of Medication Abortion Harms

As justification for a Food and Drug Administration review of a drug used in medication abortion, two Trump administration health officials have referenced an April report from an anti-abortion group that claims to show a far higher rate of serious side effects from the drug than has been found previously. However, the report, which is not peer-reviewed research, didn’t disclose where it got its data and has substantial methodological issues, reproductive health experts say.

The drug in question, mifepristone, is used alongside misoprostol for medication abortion and is FDA-approved for terminating pregnancies through 10 weeks of gestation. As we have written before, serious side effects from medication abortion are rare.

Medication abortions make up most abortions in the U.S. — 63% of them in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports reproductive rights. 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary have repeatedly promised an FDA review of mifepristone. In a May 14 Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee hearing, Kennedy called the April report “alarming” and said that it “indicates that at very least the label should be changed” for the drug. Kennedy and Makary reiterated the promise of a review in a Sept. 19 letter, again citing the April report as reason for concern about the drug’s safety.