The Supreme Court granted President Donald Trump’s emergency request late Friday to block a judge’s order that it distribute November’s full benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) amid the federal government shutdown, and instead allow it to continue with planned partial SNAP payments for the month.

The court filing came even as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a memo (posted on X by reporter Jacob Fischler) sent to states that it is working to make funds available Friday for full monthly SNAP benefits. The Supreme Court’s decision gives a Boston federal appeals court 48 hours to more fully consider the Trump administration’s request to pause full payments. The court’s decision could prevent other states from issuing full payments. 

Officials in California, Kansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin confirmed to The Associated Press that some SNAP recipients were already issued full November payments.

A spokesperson for Nevada’s Division of Social Services (DSS) did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Nevada Independent on the state of SNAP funding.

Uncertainty remains for SNAP recipients in Nevada

The court wrangling prolonged weeks of uncertainty for the food program that serves about 1 in 6 Nevadans, mostly with lower incomes.

An individual can receive a monthly maximum food benefit of nearly $300 and a family of four up to nearly $1,000, although many receive less than that under a formula that takes into consideration their income. In 2022, the average SNAP beneficiary in Nevada received $147 in monthly benefits.

The Indy has not confirmed as of Friday afternoon if or when full SNAP benefits will be sent out to Nevadans.

On Wednesday, Nevada used $29 million from the federal emergency reserves to provide more than 196,000 households with partial SNAP payments. DSS previously told The Indy that those payments would be 50 percent or less than their usual amounts and that nearly 14,000 SNAP recipients in Nevada would receive no benefits.

At a Friday press conference hosted by the liberal advocacy organization Battle Born Progress, Las Vegas resident and SNAP recipient Shirley Bendzu said threats to SNAP funding had endangered her family’s access to food. 

“I am genuinely grateful to the community organizations that have stepped up to try to provide food to our family and others in the community,” Bendzu said. “It is simply not enough.”

The legal battle over SNAP takes another twist

Because of the federal government shutdown, the Trump administration had originally said SNAP benefits would not be available in November. However, two judges ruled last week that the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely because of the shutdown. One of those judges was U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr., who also ordered the full payments Thursday.

In both cases, the judges ordered the government to use one emergency reserve fund containing more than $4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments. The federal government sends Nevada approximately $90 million for SNAP every month.

On Monday, the administration said it would not use these extra reserves, saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the program and that the additional money was needed to shore up other child hunger programs.

Thursday’s federal court order rejected the Trump administration’s decision to cover only 65 percent of the maximum monthly benefit, a decision that could have left some Nevadans getting nothing for this month.

In its court filing Friday, Trump’s administration contended that Thursday’s directive to fund full SNAP benefits runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution.

“This unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers. Courts hold neither the power to appropriate nor the power to spend,” the U.S. Department of Justice wrote in its request to the court.

In response, attorneys for the states, cities and nonprofits challenging Trump’s administration — which includes Nevada’s Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford — said the government has plenty of available money and the court should “not allow them to further delay getting vital food assistance to individuals and families who need it now.”

This article was updated at 8:53 p.m. on 11/07/2025 to update on the Supreme Court’s hearing of President Trump’s request for a pause on full SNAP payments.