(Washington) The US Supreme Court on Tuesday extended its ruling that the Trump administration is not required to immediately pay food aid program allocations suspended due to the budget shutdown, which could be lifted on Wednesday.
A court ruled last week that the government must fully fund the SNAP food assistance program for the month of November.
But Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued an administrative ruling Friday suspending the proceedings and granting additional time to consider the administration’s request.
The extension of this decision on Tuesday allows the Trump administration to avoid dipping into reserve funds to pay several billion dollars to states to distribute food stamps. Some 42 million Americans rely on the program for groceries and food.
US government agencies have been at a standstill since Republicans and Democrats in Congress failed to agree on a new budget beyond September 30, with consequences for social assistance programs.
But the budgetary paralysis could be coming to an end. The US House of Representatives is due to vote on Wednesday, after the Senate passed a bill that extends the current budget until the end of January.
