Oregon Rushes to Process SNAP Payments After Supreme Court Blocks Federal Order

Oregon was one of the first states to process Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for its 757,000 recipients.

Thanks to swift action from Governor Tina Kotek, thousands of Oregon SNAP beneficiaries received access to their November benefits after the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration a temporary block on a federal ruling that ordered the government to immediately release full funding to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients.

Following Kotek’s directive, employees at the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) worked through the night to ensure that the state’s 757,000 SNAP recipients had access to their food benefits.

“I’m grateful to the federal courts for upholding the law, and to our state teams who worked through the night to make sure every Oregon family relying on SNAP could buy groceries today and through the weekend,” said Kotek in a news statement.

Emergency preparations by Kotek, enabled the ODHS to work efficiently with its electronic benefits transfer vendor to ensure that funds would be available as soon as the federal court order was issued.

Trump Froze SNAP Funding Due to Government Shutdown

President Donald Trump recently announced that SNAP benefits payable in November would be withheld because of the government shutdown.

Governor Kotek responded by declaring a hunger emergency and authorized the release of $5 million to the Oregon Food Bank for statewide emergency pantries. A day later, she released $1 million for emergency funding to Tribal governments.

After a federal appeals court in Boston declined to step in, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a late-Friday order putting the full release of SNAP benefits on hold while the appeals court decides whether to grant a longer stay. Jackson oversees emergency requests from Massachusetts.

Her order remains in effect until 48 hours after the appeals court issues its decision, giving the administration a window to return to the Supreme Court if the lower court declines to act.