The Agriculture Department faces a court order to release SNAP benefits the department refuses to fund this month with the government shut down, and the Supreme Court considers this week whether President Donald Trump has the right to impose his most sweeping tariffs.
A federal judge in Rhode Island, John J. McConnell Jr., ruled Friday that USDA must use a contingency fund to at least cover a portion of the SNAP benefits owed to eligible recipients this month.
On Saturday, McConnell issued a written order requiring USDA to say by Monday how it will comply with his decision. He said USDA could use its Section 32 spending authority to augment the contingency fund to cover the full month of benefits.
“There is no question that the congressionally approved contingency funds must be used now because of the shutdown; in fact, the President during his first term issued guidance indicating that these contingency funds are available if SNAP funds lapse due to a government shutdown,” McConnell wrote.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Fox News on Sunday that the department was working through the weekend on the issue. She said Trump “wants us to do everything we can to make sure that we can keep these benefits going.”
A second judge, in Massachusetts, agreed that USDA improperly refused to tap the contingency fund but gave the department until Monday to consider how to pay the benefits.
Trump on Friday evening said in a social media post that he wanted government lawyers to get clarification on how the benefits could be paid lawfully. On Saturday, he reiterated his demand that the Senate end the shutdown by scrapping the filibuster that keeps Republicans from passing a stopgap spending bill without Democratic votes.
Noting Trump's post, McConnell said in his order, “So, here’s the ORDER and here’s the legal direction from the Court.”
In an apparent reversal of its initial shutdown plan, USDA says it can’t use the contingency fund without an underlying appropriation for SNAP.
USDA told states Oct. 10 that it had insufficient funds to cover November benefits, and on Oct. 24, the department issued a statement saying the contingency fund cannot legally be used to cover SNAP.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told CNN's State of the Union that Democrats want to reopen the government and accused Republicans, including Trump, of not being serious in wanting to find a solution, alleging that Trump is spending more time on the golf course than talking with Democrats who represent half the country.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News Sunday on SNAP: Trump is a "big-hearted president" trying all he can to restore funding.
The SCOTUS tariff showdown
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Wednesday in a case that will determine if President Donald Trump overstepped when he used emergency powers to impose new tariffs on almost every U.S. trading partner.
The case, a consolidation of cases filed in the District Court for the District of Columbia and at the Court of International Trade, will determine whether a 1977 law known as the International Economic Powers Act – or IEEPA – allows a president to levy duties in an emergency and, if so, to the extent the president has in his second term.
Bessent told Fox News Sunday said he’s “quite optimistic” about the case and that the president is using his emergency authority to set tariffs responsibly as he tries to avert a trade crisis.
No president before Trump has used the rule to impose tariffs.
The challengers will argue that – unlike in other instances when Congress has delegated its tariff-setting authority – the IEEPA statute does not specifically mention tariffs. They will also argue that even if the court interprets IEEPA’s reference to powers to “regulate” imports as a green light for tariffs, it cannot be used to justify the broad global tariffs Trump has deployed.
If the Supreme Court agrees, it could order the administration to refund tariffs collected from the “Liberation Day” duties, and those applied to Mexico, Canada and China over migration and drug smuggling allegations.
In a Justice Department response filed Thursday, government lawyers laid out their counterarguments. They say that authorities to “regulate” imports include tariff powers; that the tariffs were in response to “unusual and extraordinary threats” to the U.S.; and that the “major questions” doctrine that the appeals court used in its ruling that IEEPA didn’t grant unlimited tariffing powers should not have been applied in a national security context.
Analysts say that the case could go any number of ways, with the most likely outcome a ruling that leaves both sides wanting more.
“It's really hard to tell,” a trade lawyer granted anonymity to speak frankly about the case told Agri-Pulse. The court, they said, is unlikely to find that the law never allows for tariffs. But if they accept there are some limitations on when tariffs can be imposed under IEEPA, the justices may feel that they have to define the guardrails – which they might be reluctant to do.
“That may require them to read more into the law than this court typically does,” the lawyer said.
Senate Ag set to advance USDA nominees
The Senate Agriculture Committee will meet Monday to vote on three USDA nominees: Mindy Brashears, Trump’s pick to be USDA undersecretary for food safety; Stella Yvette Herrell, nominated for assistant agriculture secretary; and John Walk, Trump’s selection for USDA inspector general,
On Wednesday, the Senate will consider the nomination of Glen Smith to be undersecretary for rural development at USDA.
Smith, who grew up on a farm in Iowa, previously headed the Farm Credit Administration during Trump’s first term, as well as in the first part of the Biden administration.
Here is a list of agriculture or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EDT):
Monday, Nov. 3
Deadline for public comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement ahead of 2026 review.
5:30 p.m. – Senate Agriculture Committee meeting to consider the nominations of Mindy Brashears to be USDA undersecretary for food safety, Stella Yvette Herrell to be an assistant agriculture secretary, and John Walk to be USDA inspector general,
Tuesday, Nov. 4.Wednesday, Nov. 5
10 a.m. – The Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a case challenging Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs.
1 p.m. – Kansas State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics will hold a webinar on the “Current State of the Black Sea Grain and Oilseed Markets.”
3 p.m. – Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on the nomination of Glen Smith to be USDA undersecretary for rural development, 328A Russell.
Thursday, Nov. 6
10 a.m. – Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on the nominations of John DeLeeuw, Richard Kloster, and Michelle A. Schultz to be members of the Surface Transportation Board, 253 Russell.
Friday, Nov. 7
Kim Chipman contributed to this report.
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