Supreme Court expected to rule on whether full SNAP payments must resume

The Supreme Court is expected to rule Tuesday on a request from President Donald Trump’s administration to keep blocking states from providing full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, arguing the money might be needed elsewhere.

The seesawing rulings mean that beneficiaries in some states, including Hawaii and New Jersey, have received their full monthly allocations while in others, such as Nebraska and West Virginia, they have received nothing.

The legal wrangling could be moot if the U.S. House adopts and Trump signs legislation to quickly end the federal government shutdown.

The Trump administration chose to cut off SNAP funding after October due to the shutdown. That decision sparked lawsuits and a string of swift and contradictory judicial rulings that deal with government power — and impact food access for some 42 million Americans.

The administration went along with two rulings on Oct. 31 by judges who said the government must provide at least partial funding for SNAP. It eventually said recipients would get up to 65% of their regular benefits. But it balked last week when one of the judges said it must fund the program fully for November, even if that means digging into funds the government said need to be maintained in case of emergencies elsewhere.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to pause that order.

The U.S. Senate on Monday passed legislation to reopen the federal government with a plan that would include replenishing SNAP funds.

Speaker Mike Johnson told members of the House to return to Washington to consider the deal a small group of Senate Democrats made with Republicans.