With Congress on the brink of a deal to end the government shutdown, the Supreme Court has agreed to let the political process play out and keep in place a brief pause of a federal court judge's ruling that ordered the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP benefits in November.
On Friday, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson had granted a stay on behalf of the Court, blocking the lower court's order that the administration transfer some $4 billion from other food security programs to SNAP payments. That Supreme Court stay was set to expire late Tuesday night, but will now stay in place until 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday.
The administration noted in its Supreme Court filing Monday that Congress appeared to be close to reaching a deal, which would make the entire case moot. It urged the Court to keep its pause in place "to let the political process that is rapidly playing out reach its conclusion."
Justice Jackson, who handles emergency orders from federal courts in the First Circuit, would have denied the request to extend her initial stay. No other Justice noted a dissent to the full Court's order Tuesday night.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
