Justice Jackson’s Temporary Hold
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson granted a brief reprieve to the Trump administration late Friday, suspending a lower court ruling that mandated full food stamp benefits during the ongoing government shutdown.
The hold will remain in effect for two days following an appeals court ruling on the issue, allowing the Supreme Court time to consider whether to intervene after the appellate judges make their decision.
Officials from the Trump administration requested this delay, arguing that permitting a single federal judge in Rhode Island to dictate policy could lead to chaos.
The case involves billions of dollars that District Judge John McConnell Jr. had ordered the government to disburse by Friday’s end.
The Trump administration contends that due to the shutdown, the food stamp program is effectively non-existent and payments cannot be legally made until Congress restores funding.
Judge McConnell determined there were funds available in a contingency account for partial benefits. In a subsequent ruling, he instructed the government to utilize funds allocated for school lunches to ensure full benefits for November.
The Justice Department quickly sought a reversal from the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. When this was not immediately granted on Friday evening, they appealed directly to the Supreme Court.
Justice Jackson, appointed by Obama, expressed her expectation for a swift response from the appeals court and stated that until then, full benefit payments should not proceed.
“Given the First Circuit’s representations, an administrative stay is required to facilitate the First Circuit’s expeditious resolution of the pending stay motion,” she noted in her order.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer informed the high court that fulfilling full benefit payments would necessitate reallocating funds from the Child Nutrition Program, which he deemed an untenable situation for the government.
Sauer also mentioned that some states are already manipulating payment systems by issuing an entire month’s worth of benefits ahead of potential further legal actions.
The exact amount withdrawn by these states before Justice Jackson’s intervention remains unclear as of Friday evening.
