The Trump administration is looking for legal guidance on how to restore funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which supports millions of low-income Americans, right away.
As the government shutdown shows no signs of ending, the president accused Democrats of deliberately obstructing short-term funding measures and endangering access to food assistance for roughly 42 million people.
Trump said he has directed White House attorneys to petition the courts for guidance on how to legally release federal funds to states struggling to issue benefits because of the ongoing funding impasse.
The president said that his legal team believes their ability to distribute certain funds is limited by conflicting court rulings, creating an urgent need for judicial clarification.
Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
Our Government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available, and now two Courts have issued conflicting opinions on what we can and cannot do. I do NOT want Americans to go hungry just because… pic.twitter.com/kcioghLQlR
— Spoiler Alerts🚫Conspiracies 🙏❤️🇺🇸🦅 (@realJohnHobbs1) November 1, 2025
“Our Government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available, and now two Courts have issued conflicting opinions on what we can and cannot do,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I do NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT.”
He added that he had ordered lawyers to immediately seek legal direction from the courts so the administration could move forward with funding SNAP payments.
Trump said that even with a favorable court ruling, delays would continue as states processed the necessary funds to distribute aid.
He reiterated his commitment to act immediately once a clear ruling was issued, saying it would be his “honor to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay.”
Trump accused Senate Democrats of intentionally stalling negotiations to maintain leverage during the shutdown, framing their opposition as an attack on working-class Americans.
“Democrats should quit this charade where they hurt people for their own political reasons, and immediately REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT,” Trump said, encouraging citizens who rely on SNAP to call Democratic lawmakers and demand they support reopening federal operations. He even listed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office number in his post.
On Friday, federal judges in Rhode Island and Massachusetts ruled that the government could not suspend SNAP benefits during the shutdown.
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Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island warned that cutting food assistance would cause immediate and irreparable harm, noting the anxiety caused by uncertainty over whether families could feed themselves.
Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts issued a similar decision, saying that federal agencies misinterpreted the law by claiming they lacked authority to use contingency funds to continue payments.
Both judges were appointed by former President Joe Biden. Their rulings challenged the administration’s interpretation of existing law, suggesting that the government had access to contingency reserves that could temporarily fund the program.
Roughly 42 million Americans rely on SNAP for essential groceries, but the Department of Agriculture’s $5.25 billion contingency fund falls far short of the $9 billion required to cover November payments in full. Without congressional action, millions could see their food benefits reduced or delayed.
Democratic lawmakers quickly seized on the rulings to attack Trump. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland claimed on social media that the court decisions required the administration to immediately use emergency funds to sustain SNAP.
🚨NEWS: Two federal judges just ruled the Trump Admin MUST use emergency funds to continue providing SNAP benefits during the shutdown.
They tried to use hungry kids as political pawns instead of coming to the table to reopen the government. Shameful. https://t.co/MLBPg57B25
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) October 31, 2025
He accused the president of using “hungry kids as political pawns” rather than negotiating to end the shutdown.
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota echoed that sentiment, saying that Trump “has no excuse to withhold food assistance” and framing his handling of the situation as a moral failure rather than a legal one.
During a Thursday interview on MSNBC, Van Hollen accused Trump of deliberately withholding food aid for political purposes, claiming that the president was “enjoying” the suffering caused by the shutdown.
He alleged that the administration’s legal strategy amounted to telling a court, “Don’t make us feed 40 million Americans during this shutdown.”
Van Hollen claimed that Congress had already allocated funds for emergencies and that Trump’s legal argument was an intentional effort to inflict distress on struggling families.
He described the situation as “pure sadism,” saying the administration was “enjoying the pain that they’re imposing on the American people.”
Later that day, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania offered a rare apology for his party during an interview with CNN, saying Democrats bore responsibility for not ending the shutdown sooner.
When asked about the expiring food aid, Fetterman said he had personally witnessed food lines growing longer in his community due to the disruption in SNAP payments. He admitted that his party had failed to act and described the situation as “an absolute failure.”
Fetterman said families across the country would soon struggle to fill their refrigerators and pack lunches for their children. He lamented that despite the hardships, congressional Democrats had still not agreed to reopen the government.
“If a Democrat — you know, we’re not allowed to just open this up, I mean, then our party has bigger problems than I thought we might have already,” he said. “It’s like, that’s not controversial. Pay everybody.”
He also noted that federal workers had borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars to cover bills during the shutdown, calling the situation “a failure” and apologizing directly to Americans who were impacted.
