SNAP benefits start to trickle in after weeks of chaos and desperation

SNAP benefits began to trickle in for some recipients on Friday amid court battles over funding for the food assistance program during the government shutdown.

After a week of stress-inducing delays, SNAP benefits began to trickle in for some recipients on Friday amid court battles over funding for the food assistance program during the government shutdown.

“I am feeling a lot less stressed, and I was able to sleep last night for the first time,” said Erica Arneson, a single mother in Tacoma, Washington, whose full benefits arrived Thursday evening around 7 p.m.

The tumult surrounding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, began when the Agriculture Department said last month that it would not be able to pay for benefits as long as the government remained shut down. Then, in response to a lawsuit challenging that plan, the USDA agreed to provide partial funds for November. But on Thursday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to fund SNAP benefits in full.

The administration appealed the ruling but told states that it would fully fund the program during that process. On Friday evening, the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Trump’s administration’s request for an emergency pause on the judge’s order. The Trump administration subsequently asked the Supreme Court to prevent it from having to fully fund SNAP. That request was temporarily granted on Friday night.

Because of these ever-changing developments, some SNAP recipients saw just a portion of the benefits they’d usually get show up in their accounts over the last couple of days. Others, like Arneson, got the full month’s total. Many recipients, however, are still waiting with zero balances.