A full timeline of the ongoing SNAP legal battle

The battle over SNAP benefits has been ongoing for almost two months and there is still no clear end in sight. 

California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta has been fighting tooth and nail alongside 23 other states to ensure benefits are released as soon as possible, while the White House has made it clear it does not intend to release the funds any time soon.

In early October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture notified states that there would likely be a lapse in SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown. What has ensued since then has been a series of twists and turns that have left over 41 million Americans who rely on these benefits unsure of where their next meal will come from. 

“The Trump Administration does not want full November SNAP benefits to be issued. That should be clear as day by now…” said Bonta in a statement. “We are back in court because President Trump and his Administration have issued public threats against states that have already issued full November SNAP benefits. If the Trump Administration is looking for someone to admonish, it need only look in the mirror.”

California’s response and legal filings relating to SNAP have not let up since October:

Oct. 22: 

• Governor Gavin Newsom deploys National Guard and volunteers to food banks as SNAP benefits stall.

Oct. 28: 

• Bonta co-leads a coalition of 23 states and three governors suing the Trump administration for allowing SNAP to stall, despite a nearly $5 billion contingency fund available for benefits.

Oct 31: 

• Two federal judges rule that the Trump administration must continue to fund SNAP, either partially or fully, through the use of contingency funds.

Nov. 3: 

• The Trump administration announces it will release partial SNAP payments in accordance with the judges' rulings.

Nov. 6: 

• A coalition of states files a reply brief, saying the USDA’s plan to partially fund SNAP is insufficient. A judge ruled in favor of the states, ordering the administration to release full benefits by the end of the following day, Friday, Nov. 7;

Nov. 7: 

• The Trump administration files an emergency appeal to block the ruling, but later says it will comply; and

• That evening, California and other states begin to release funding to SNAP recipients, many of whom saw their full November benefits.

Just when it seemed like the fight was over, the Trump administration went to the Supreme Court on Nov. 7 and asked the court to block the latest ruling. Late Friday night, Supreme Court Justice Kantaji Brown Jackson granted the administration an emergency appeal, pausing the requirement to distribute full SNAP payments until an appeals court in Boston issued a more lasting ruling.

On Nov. 8, the USDA released a guidance document claiming that states that had rushed to release benefits had done so unauthorized, and ordered those states to “immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025.” It’s unclear how states would go about taking this money back from recipients. 

On Monday, Nov. 10, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted the coalition’s request to pause that guidance document and set a hearing for later that day.

The next day, Nov. 11, Justice Jackson extended the stay on the District of Rhode Island’s decision requiring the Trump Administration to pay full benefits for November. The temporary stay is in effect until Thursday night while the court considers the administration's request to indefinitely stall the order to pay full benefits.

“The Trump Administration has run back to (the) highest court in the land to avoid fully funding SNAP benefits,” said Bonta, continuing, “it is unconscionable. More than 41 million low-income Americans rely on SNAP benefits for vital food assistance, and some still don’t know where their next meal is coming from thanks to the Trump Administration’s cruelty. My fellow attorneys general and I will continue to press our case until every SNAP recipient is made whole and until we have assurances that the Trump Administration will not retaliate against states that acted quickly to provide full November SNAP benefits pursuant to a court order and USDA’s own guidance.”