Supreme Court Extends Pause on SNAP Funding Amid Shutdown

The U.S. Supreme Court extended a pause on a judge's order requiring full SNAP funding amid the government shutdown. The decision allows the Trump administration to withhold $4 billion from food aid programs temporarily. Meanwhile, legislation to end the shutdown proceeds in the Senate, impacting millions of Americans.

In a significant legal development, the U.S. Supreme Court decided on Tuesday to extend its pause on enforcing a lower court's decision that mandated the Trump administration to fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the ongoing government shutdown.

The court's ruling permits the temporary withholding of approximately $4 billion in SNAP funds, a move that comes as Congress inches closer to a legislative compromise aimed at ending the nation's longest shutdown. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's prior extension is set to expire this Thursday, but the Senate's actions offer a glimmer of hope.

As food benefits remain disrupted, millions of low-income Americans lean on strained assistance systems. The lapse in SNAP funding marks a historic first, while efforts to pass a resolution advance in the Senate, potentially halting the prolonged political impasse.

(With inputs from agencies.)