Judges force USDA to tap SNAP reserves during shutdown

U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. (District of ⚓Rhode Island) and U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani (District of 🏛️Massachusetts) issued rulings Oct. 31, 2025 that the USDA’s suspension of SNAP was unlawful and that the agency must consider using contingency funds to continue benefits; both courts asked the government to report back by Monday, Nov. 3. (Judge McConnell acted from the bench; Judge Talwani issued a written opinion calling the suspension "unlawful".)

The SNAP program serves roughly 41–42 million people and costs about $8 billion per month in aggregate; contingency reserves available to USDA for SNAP were reported by news outlets at about $5 billion, with an additional distinct reserve pool reported at roughly $23 billion.

Multiple lawsuits challenged the USDA action. A multistate suit (filed by a coalition of roughly 25 Democratic-led states plus the 🏛️District of Columbia) was filed in Boston and assigned to Judge Talwani; a separate suit brought by municipalities, nonprofits, unions and businesses was filed in ⚓Rhode Island by Democracy Forward and the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island (Rhode Island State Council of Churches v. Rollins).

The USDA had earlier posted and later removed guidance describing lapse-of-funding contingencies; contemporaneous reporting documents the removal of that guidance but does not confirm every reported internal-page count or exact deletion date cited in some drafts.

The court orders required the agency to consider tapping contingency funds and other available reserves to avoid a lapse, but both rulings recognized the practical delay and distribution logistics that could mean partial, late, or staggered payments to beneficiaries.