White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the Trump administration will pay out SNAP benefits as ordered by court — even though the president posted hours before that the funds “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
Trump thrust the November SNAP payments into confusion earlier Tuesday, when he said that SNAP benefits would be withheld until Democrats vote to end the government shutdown. That statement contradicted what his own administration told the courts Monday.
Leavitt insisted during a briefing that there was no conflict between the two statements.
“We are digging into a contingency fund that is supposed to be for emergencies, catastrophes, for war, and the president does not want to have to tap into this fund in the future, and that’s what he was referring to in his Truth Social post,” Leavitt said. “So the Department of Agriculture, as for the latest SNAP payment, and the judge’s order, put out guidance to states today on how to get that money to the recipients of SNAP, but it’s going to take some time.”
Trending
The Trump administration said last week that it would not distribute November SNAP benefits due to the shutdown, although administrations have done so in the past using contingency funds. But it was forced to change course by the courts, and on Monday, the Trump administration told federal courts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island that the USDA would “deplete SNAP contingency funds completely and provide reduced SNAP benefits for November 2025.”
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted on X Tuesday morning that USDA had sent guidance for SNAP distribution to the states and that her team was prepared to issue “immediate” technical assistance.
Rollins said she expected the distribution of benefits to be “cumbersome,” but that the agency “will help States navigate those challenges.”
Trump’s post soon after suggested the administration would not provide funds as promised: “SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly “handed” to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
Judge John James McConnell Jr., the federal judge handling the SNAP court case in Rhode Island, set a hearing for Thursday to determine whether the administration is complying with his orders to distribute SNAP benefits. The hearing was set not in response to Trump’s Tuesday morning announcement, but rather in response to a motion to force the full payment of SNAP benefits instead of the partial payment promised by the administration.
“We should not need to go to court to force the administration to provide food all people are entitled to in this country, but here we are - back in court to demand that the administration acts consistent with the judge’s order,” said Skye Perryman, the president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which is involved in one of the lawsuits over SNAP funding.
This story has been updated with comments from the press secretary.
Author
Contributors
