The Trump administration must tell two federal courts on Monday when it will restore funding for food stamps, after two judges found fault in the government’s attempt to stop funding benefits during the shutdown.
The court-imposed deadlines arrive at a moment when President Trump and his deputies have sent mixed signals about the immediate fate of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, whose roughly 42 million low-income beneficiaries still do not know if, or when, they may receive their next payment.
“There’s a process that has to be followed,” Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, told CNN on Sunday. “So, we got to figure out what the process is. President Trump wants to make sure that people get their food benefits.”
Asked if that meant benefits could be paid by Wednesday, one of the options offered by a federal judge, Mr. Bessent replied: “Could be.”
The White House did not immediately to a request for comment.
For the one in eight Americans who depend on SNAP, the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, the whiplash began last month. In an abrupt shift, the Trump administration said it would not tap billions of dollars in reserve to fund benefits as the government shutdown stretched into November, despite previously indicating that it would.
The move prompted cities, states, religious groups and nonprofits to sue, as they looked to spare low-income families from severe and imminent hardship. Two different federal courts ultimately sided with them on Friday, and both imposed a Monday deadline by which the government had to communicate its next steps.
Only one of the judges, John J. McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, explicitly ordered the Trump administration to restart SNAP payments immediately. In a written order, issued Saturday, he said the Agriculture Department could either make full payments to SNAP recipients by Monday, or partial payments by Wednesday.
Judge McConnell gave the government those extra days after administration officials told the court that providing partial payments could take weeks, in some cases, because of technical constraints. But since then, the administration has said little about its exact plans, leaving some of the poorest American families in limbo.
Mr. Trump himself appeared to acknowledge the prospect for delays, saying Friday on social media that benefits would “unfortunately be delayed while states get the money out.”
Tony Romm is a reporter covering economic policy and the Trump administration for The Times, based in Washington.
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