Despite their continued unwillingness to sign onto a continuing resolution to reopen the federal government, Democrats everywhere were outraged by the Trump administration’s announcement that SNAP benefits for needy Americans would necessarily cease on Nov. 1 due to a lack of funding for the program.

Now, in the wake of rulings from two federal judges requiring the continued payment of benefits amid the shutdown, the White House has indicated that reduced SNAP benefits will be disbursed in November via a Department of Agriculture contingency fund, as the Associated Press reports.

Judges force administration's hand

On Friday, U.S. District Judges Indira Talwani and John McConnell separately held that the administration was required to promptly ensure that SNAP benefit payments resumed, as Fox News reported.

Talwani opined that the plaintiffs in the case at hand were likely to succeed in their claims that a suspension of benefits was unlawful, and she ordered the administration to provide details of how it would fund the program -- and at what level -- by Monday, Nov. 3.

The case heard by Talwani was brought by a group of 25 Democrat governors and state attorneys general, who contended that the suspension of SNAP benefits was illegal.

Talwani, as part of her ruling, stated, “It’s hard for me to understand how this isn’t an emergency when there’s no money and a lot of people need their SNAP benefits,” adding her belief that cuts to SNAP would be “devastating.”

As such, she -- and McConnell in his own ruling -- rejected the Trump administration’s stance that it would not tap the $5 billion contingency fund at the Agriculture Department as a way to keep SNAP benefits flowing.

Partial benefits coming

According to CBS News, in the wake of the rulings, the Trump administration submitted a declaration stating that it would “deplete SNAP contingency funds completely and provide reduced SNAP benefits for November 2025.”

The administration noted that the contingency fund contains roughly $4.6 billion available to pay November benefits, though $9 billion is needed to cover a typical month’s disbursements.

DOJ lawyers indicated that the administration was set to provide individual states with details on how to calculate the amount of benefits that may be paid to eligible households for the month.

Once that information was provided, the administration explained, states were free to begin disbursements, though “payment errors and significant delays” were possible, the attorneys noted.

Trump stands firm

Despite what appeared to be clear efforts at compliance with Friday’s court orders to resume benefits payments -- albeit at a reduced rate -- President Donald Trump remained unwavering in his stance on who is to blame for any disruptions to the entitlement program and what he believes needs to happen before things can return to pre-shutdown conditions.

Taking to Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump stated that SNAP benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up the government, which they can easily do, and not before,” but whether that is likely to happen anytime soon is something that remains to be seen.