WASHINGTON.- Two federal judges ruled on Friday, October 31, that the administration of Donald Trump is legally required to use contingency funding to keep food assistance flowing to about 42 million people, about one in eight people in the United States, as the federal government shutdown reached its 34th day.
The rulings came after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which runs the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), announced that November benefits would not be paid because of the shutdown. The agency's website put it bluntly: "the well has run dry" and "there will be no benefits issued November 01." A coalition of state attorneys general and governors sued, arguing that the department was sitting on a congressionally approved contingency fund built for exactly this kind of funding lapse and was choosing not to use it.
Boston: refusal was "contrary to law"
In Boston, Judge Indira Talwani ruled that the administration's refusal to use the USDA contingency fund to continue SNAP assistance was "contrary to law," calling the argument that the fund could not be used for SNAP payments during a shutdown "erroneous." The judge gave the USDA until Monday, November 3, to present a plan for how it will issue at least partial payments to SNAP recipients.
The Boston ruling followed the administration's earlier plan to cover only about 65 percent of the maximum benefit, an approach the court rejected as a final answer. The contingency fund holds roughly $4.6 billion, according to figures cited in the litigation, while a full month of SNAP costs between $8.5 billion and $9 billion — which is why the fight is over at least partial payments now, with full funding still in dispute.
Rhode Island: full payments by November 3, or a partial plan by November 5
In a separate ruling later on October 31, a federal judge in Rhode Island granted the states and nonprofit agencies suing the administration a temporary restraining order, effectively ordering the administration to make at least partial payments to SNAP recipients. That judge gave the administration until the end of the day on November 3 to make full payments to recipients, or until November 5 to come up with a way of administering partial benefits.
The National Council of Nonprofits said the Rhode Island order blocks the decision to provide only partial funding and directs the administration to release additional funds to provide full benefits while the case proceeds, noting that the court found the rationale for withholding the funds "arbitrary and capricious" and that partial funding did not comply with its order to resolve the administrative problems "expeditiously." Many states have warned that partial payments could take days to weeks to process.
Why the shutdown is still going
November 1 marked a critical point in the shutdown, now in its 34th day and expected to pass the current 35-day record for the longest government shutdown. Congress has not passed funding bills for fiscal year 2026, which began on October 1, or a continuing resolution to temporarily maintain funding. Democrats are withholding support for a continuing resolution to pressure Republicans into agreeing to an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits set to expire at the end of the year. Open enrollment for 2026 coverage began on November 1, and without an extension, health insurance premiums are set to rise by an average of 114 percent from the previous year, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The same shutdown is also freezing other help for low-income households. Funding for the Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which serves 6.2 million households, is stuck because the staff that administers it was dismissed in April and the remaining workers have been furloughed. On October 27, Representative Brian Fitzpatrick urged health and budget officials to distribute LIHEAP funding without delay, writing that "no household should have to choose between keeping their homes safe temperatures, basic health care, or having food on the table."
What to watch now is Monday, November 3: the administration owes the Boston court a plan, and the Rhode Island deadline for full payments falls the same day — the same week voters go to the polls in the midterm elections.
Fuentes: National Low Income Housing Coalition, 31 de octubre de 2026; National Council of Nonprofits, 31 de octubre de 2026; Bazaar Daily News America, 31 de octubre de 2026.