The Supreme Court extended a pause Tuesday of a lower court’s order for the Trump administration to use child nutrition funds to fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits as the House of Representatives is expected to pass legislation to reopen the government as soon as Wednesday.
The unsigned order from the high court extends an administrative stay initially granted by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday, which was set to expire late Tuesday evening, through 11:59 p.m. on Thursday. The only noted dissent was from Jackson, who said she would deny the extension of her stay.
The Department of Justice had asked the high court to extend the block on the lower court’s order mandating Section 32 Child Nutrition Funds be moved to fund SNAP, arguing it injects “the federal courts into the political branches’ closing efforts to end this shutdown” by attempting “to reallocate resources without lawful authority.”
The DOJ also noted in its Monday brief to the Supreme Court that Congress appeared to be on the verge of reopening the government, which would automatically fund SNAP benefits and render the lawsuit moot.
The Senate passed legislation to reopen the government Monday evening, with the House set to reconvene Wednesday. The lower chamber of Congress is widely expected to pass that legislation to end the shutdown and send it to President Donald Trump’s desk, ending the shutdown as soon as Wednesday.
The Supreme Court’s extension of the administrative stay should be long enough for the shutdown-ending legislation to be signed into law, and moot the lower court’s order to use child nutrition funds for SNAP.
DOJ ASKS SUPREME COURT TO HALT ‘RAID’ ON CHILD NUTRITION FUNDS FOR SNAP AS SHUTDOWN DEAL ADVANCES
Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the high court’s order Tuesday, thanking the high court for preventing “further judicial upheaval for the SNAP and Child Nutrition programs.”
“Thank you to the Court for allowing Congress to continue its swift progress to end the shutdown WITHOUT last-ditch disruption from lower courts. We will continue fighting and winning to protect President Trump’s agenda from meritless judicial activism,” Bondi said.
