Bessent: Administration Won't Appeal SNAP Orders

The Trump administration will not appeal court orders to use emergency funds to make SNAP payments, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday, confirming that food benefits could be restored this week. "There's a process that has to be followed," he said on CNN's State of the Union, CNBC reports. "So, we've got to figure out what the process is." Bessent said President Trump wants direction from the courts about how to move money around to fund SNAP payments. The government shutdown has left more than 40 million Americans without the aid due at the beginning of the month.

Asked if benefits could resume by Wednesday, Bessent said it was possible if the requirements were met. The administration faces a noon Monday deadline to update one federal court on its process, per NBC News. Food banks attracted long lines over the weekend. Stadium parking lots in California and Texas became mass distribution sites. The head of the Houston Food Bank said there hasn't been such a rush since the pandemic, per NBC. "But that was nature hitting us," Brian Greene said. "This is society making a horrible mistake."