U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks with U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer during a press conference on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, on October 15, 2025.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday morning that SNAP food benefits could resume as early as Wednesday.
Two federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled Friday that the Trump administration must use emergency funds to pay for SNAP benefits that help feed 42 million Americans during the government shutdown.
Rhode Island Judge Jack McConnell also directed that these payments be made from emergency funds “as soon as possible.” Judge Indira Talwani in Boston gave the administration until Monday to tell whether it will approve a reduction in SNAP benefits for at least November.
The administration had originally planned to end the aid on November 1st.
Bessent said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” that his administration would not appeal the court’s decision, but added that it was “possible” to find the money to pay SNAP benefits by Wednesday.
“There is a process that has to be followed, so we need to understand what that process is,” the Treasurer said.
On Friday, President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the government is considering options to reinstate SNAP.
“I don’t want Americans to go hungry because Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and reopen the government,” the president wrote. “Therefore, I have directed our attorneys to ask the court to clarify as soon as possible how SNAP can be legally funded.”
