• Federal judges order Trump administration to use contingency funds to continue food assistance program
  • Trump could appeal, and payments to many recipients may still be delayed, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel
  • About 1.4 Michigan residents are enrolled in the SNAP program

Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must continue to fund a national food assistance program that benefits roughly 1.4 million Michigan residents. 

The orders, which require the Trump administration to use contingency funds during an ongoing federal government shutdown, came a day before the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Democratic colleagues from 24 other states had sued over plans to pause the program, arguing the administration has a legal obligation to keep it running. 

It’s not immediately clear if the Trump administration will appeal Friday’s rulings.

But even if contingency funds are released to states immediately, Michigan residents who were scheduled for SNAP payments this weekend will likely still see a delay, Nessel told reporters Friday at Capuchin Services Center, which operates a soup kitchen in Detroit. 

RELATED: 

“Unfortunately, the remedy…may not be quick enough for tomorrow’s scheduled deposits,” Nessel said, “In fact, we know it won’t.”

An “optimistic” timeline for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to get the funds to SNAP recipients is three days, Nessel said. 

Nessel celebrated Friday’s court rulings. “Providing food assistance to residents in need is not just a moral issue, it’s also a legal one,” she said in a statement. 

Lynn Sutfin, spokesperson for the state health department, said the USDA has until Monday to determine if it will tap into additional available funds to fully fund SNAP benefits for the month of November. 

“MDHHS will do everything in its power to expedite payments to the 1.4 million SNAP recipients in Michigan once we receive USDA’s determination,” she said.

The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. Word in October that it would be a Nov. 1 casualty of the shutdown sent states, food banks and SNAP recipients scrambling to figure out how to secure food. Some states said they would spend their own funds to keep versions of the program going.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who had also called on the Trump administration to use contingency funds for SNAP, announced Thursday the state will send $4.5 million to the Food Bank Council of Michigan.

Michigan’s Democratic-led Senate on Thursday approved a $71 million food assistance plan, but Republican House Speaker Matt Hall called it a “political bill” he would not support. He backed the $4.5 million for food banks instead. 

SNAP costs around $8 billion per month nationally. The federal contingency fund has roughly $5 billion so could keep the program operating for less than a month. Democratic officials argued that not only could that money be used, it must be. They also said a separate fund with around $23 billion is available for the cause.

In the last year, Michigan doled out about $3 billion in SNAP funding. Residents who qualified due to financial hardships received average payments of $191 per month, according to state data. 

Funds are loaded onto electronic benefit transfer cards and can be used to purchase food at grocery stores, farmers markets or other participating retailers. 

On Friday, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled from a bench that the program must be funded using at least the contingency funds – and asked for an update on progress by Monday.

A Massachusetts-based judge also gave the administration until Monday to say whether it would partially pay for the benefits for November with contingency money or fund them fully with additional funds

It wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the debit cards that beneficiaries use to buy groceries could be reloaded after the ruling. That process often takes one to two weeks.

Advocates and beneficiaries say halting the food aid would force people to choose between buying groceries and paying other bills.

Elizabeth Freeman puts food in a fridge.
Elizabeth Freeman, founder of the Elmwood Blessing Box, restocks milk inside the pantry in Westland. Freeman said the pantry now serves more than 60 people a day, about twice as many as before the recent SNAP changes, adding that “some people come every day because their family needs it.” (Brayan Gutierrez for Bridge Michigan)

At a Washington news conference Friday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, whose department runs SNAP, said the contingency funds in question would not cover the cost of SNAP for long. 

Speaking at a press conference with House Speaker Mike Johnson at the Capitol, she blamed Democrats for conducting a “disgusting dereliction of duty” by refusing to end their Senate filibuster as they hold out for an extension of health care funds.

Nearly 13% of households in Michigan are expected to be impacted if the food assistance program grinds to a halt. Statewide, 51% of participating households have at least one person with a disability, and 36% have older adults, according to the state health department. An estimated 548,038 children benefit from SNAP, as do nearly 40,000 veterans.

A pause in SNAP payments would impact every corner of the state, from populous Wayne County, where nearly 1 in 4 residents received an average of $201 per month over the past three years, to rural Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula, where nearly 1 in 5 residents received an average of $181 per month. 

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under our Republication Guidelines. Questions? Email republishing@bridgemi.com