(WASHINGTON) — As discussions to resolve the ongoing government shutdown progress, a legal battle over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits is intensifying. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has requested clarification from the Trump administration regarding its intentions to pursue a full stay of SNAP payouts for November.

This request follows the administration's efforts to reverse hundreds of millions of dollars in SNAP benefits that were distributed after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) informed states that it was preparing to implement full benefit issuances for November 2025 in compliance with a court order. On Friday, the administration sought an emergency stay from the Supreme Court against a lower court ruling that mandated full funding for SNAP for November. Justice Jackson granted this stay temporarily while awaiting a decision on the administration's appeal to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

On Sunday, the circuit court denied the administration's appeal, stating that the potential harm to the government from complying with the order did not outweigh the harm to the millions of Americans dependent on SNAP. Judge Julie Rikelman noted, "These immediate, predictable, and unchallenged harms facing forty-two million Americans who rely on SNAP benefits — including fourteen million children — weigh heavily against a stay."

With the temporary stay set to expire, Justice Jackson has asked both the administration and the local governments and nonprofits involved in the original lawsuit to provide additional briefing materials if the administration continues to seek a stay of the payments.

Last month, U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. ordered the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP benefits for November. In response, the administration announced it would partially fund SNAP with approximately $4.5 billion, citing the need for remaining funds to support Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) programs.

The administration's appeal to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was denied late Sunday. On Saturday, the USDA instructed states to "immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025." However, 20 states reported that they had already begun issuing full November benefits.

An emergency hearing has been scheduled for Monday afternoon in Boston to examine the legality of the USDA's directive to reverse SNAP benefits. A coalition of state attorneys general contends that it would be nearly impossible, as well as unfair and illegal, to retract hundreds of millions in SNAP benefits after they have already been distributed. They stated in a court filing, "In the span of less than a week, USDA has circulated multiple formal guidance documents, each inconsistent with the prior one, forcing the Plaintiffs into a continual state of whiplash."