The Supreme Court of the United States on Tuesday extended the order that allows the Donald Trump Administration to keep the November food stamp payment suspended, while Congress is expected to soon approve a reopening of the Government and resume disbursements.
The high court extended for two more days, until Thursday, the suspension of payment of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), on which nearly 42 million people depend.
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday issued an “administrative stay” of a lower Rhode Island court order forcing Trump to resume payments, a stay that was extended Tuesday by the Court.
The court did not rule on the merits of the matter given that the House of Representatives will most likely approve this week an extension of the federal budget that would allow the Government to reopen and resume all programs, including SNAP.
More context: Judge rules that Trump cannot suspend food stamp benefits
The Senate approved the budgets on Monday, with the vote of a group of rebel Democrats who joined the Republicans, so that all that is missing is the approval of the Lower House and Trump’s signature.
Food stamps have become the main legal front during the current government shutdown, which at 42 days is the longest in the country’s history, paralyzing the operations of federal agencies and the financing of social programs.
The Agriculture Department had planned to use contingency funds to pay for only half of the SNAP program, but lower courts ordered it to fully fund it, so the Trump administration took the case to the Supreme Court.
With information from EFE.
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