Supreme Court extends its order blocking full SNAP payments, with shutdown potentially near an end

WASHINGTON   — Federal food assistance payments for millions of Americans enrolled in the SNAP program remain on hold until Thursday night, after the Supreme Court on Tuesday extended a temporary block on payments tied to the monthlong government shutdown.

The court’s evening order came as the U.S. House is expected to vote Wednesday on a bill to end the seven-week shutdown. If the bill passes the Republican-majority chamber as expected and is signed into law by President Donald Trump, the court’s ruling will be rendered obsolete as payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are funded in the spending bill.

New York was among a number of Democrat-led states that rushed to issue SNAP payments to recipients Friday after a U.S. District Court  judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to tap into a contingency fund to pay for the program formerly known as food stamps during the shutdown. The administration has argued the emergency dollars should not be used to keep the program that serves 42 million Americans afloat.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday afternoon initially gave states the green light to start issuing payments, citing the lower court ruling, but a day later reversed course after the Trump administration appealed the decision. In a late-night order, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson issued a 48-hour pause on the lower court ruling to allow the appellate court to weigh the case.

On Monday, Brown-Jackson was the only justice on the conservative-majority court who dissented to further extending the pause on payments.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a statement Tuesday night, urged New York SNAP recipients who already received their November payment to “not be afraid to use” their funds.

“We hope to see an end to this suffering soon, as the government reopens and SNAP is once again fully funded, ”James said.

U.S. House members — who have been in recess since Sept. 19 — started to make their way back to Washington ahead of Wednesday’s vote.

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) told Newsday in a statement she planned to vote against the funding bill passed by the Senate on Monday because it currently does not address an extension to Affordable Care Act subsidies long sought by Democrats.

“It’s shameful that Republicans in Washington continue to ignore the financial pain Americans are facing and have turned their back on them once again, as health care premiums skyrocket,” Gillen said. “This is no way to govern and I will not support this betrayal of Nassau County families.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in a Tuesday evening news conference, said Democrats remained opposed to the funding deal that passed Monday with eight crossover votes, and he called on House Republicans to agree to a three-year extension to the subsidies, a proposal unlikely to pass.

“House Republicans, welcome back from your taxpayer-funded, seven-week vacation,” Jeffries said. “You now have an opportunity to actually take some action in the area of this health care crisis by working with Democrats.”

 House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), appearing on CNN, would not commit to holding a vote to extend the subsidies as premium costs are set to rise. He said Republicans were focused on taking a look at the “root causes” of the skyrocketing costs.

“There are a lot of ideas we’d like to bring back to the table,” Johnson said.

Newsday's Billy House contributed to this story.

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.