03/11/2025
'In an oral ruling in a suit brought by several Rhode Island cities, U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell in Providence blocked the administration from stopping SNAP benefits and ordered it to use a multibillion-dollar contingency fund to maintain at least some of the benefits issued each month.
In a related case, another federal judge in Massachusetts gave the USDA until Monday to decide how it will distribute benefits, either reduced or in full.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said in her order that the dozens of states that sued over the funding cutoff “are likely to succeed on their claim that ... suspension of SNAP benefits is unlawful.”'
The action comes two days after states sued the federal agency that administers SNAP benefits. Funds were set to stop flowing Saturday.