After 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 6, federal district court Judge John McConnell issued a order requiring the federal government to transfer fund from a school lunch program to pay for SNAP benefits. One might have expected the federal government to take an immediate appeal--this ruling from this particular judge was not unexpected. However, the Department of Justice did not file a brief right that evening. Rather, the brief was filed the morning of Friday, November 7. Why didn't the government file an immediate appeal? The Solicitor General's emergency application to the Supreme Court offered this explanation:

Nonetheless, after 5 p.m. on November 6 (yesterday), the district court directed USDA to pay the full November allotment by November 7 (today). . .

The government filed an eme

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