As poor Americans continue to be pawns in the Trump administration's gameplay over the government shutdown, California Attorney General Rob Bonta is seeking guidance from the Supreme Court over how to address the administration's latest "capricious" demand.

The saga over SNAP payments to 42 million low-income Americans continues this week, as Congress gets closer to a vote to reopen the federal government. Over the weekend, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a directive telling California and other states that paid out full SNAP benefits to recipients last week that they needed to "undo" those payments, which it said were "unauthorized" based on the legal status of the administration's fight over these benefits.

"To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized,” said Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary of Agriculture, in a letter to state SNAP directors Sunday. "Accordingly, States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025."

As the Associated Press reports, the USDA further threatened penalties for any states that do not comply.

As NBC Bay Area reports, AG Rob Bonta and other attorneys general are now seeking clarity from the Supreme Court over the issue, just as the Trump administration is appealing a decision from a lower court in Rhode Island that said full benefits must be paid — a decision upheld by an appeals court in Boston early Monday.

"Between Nov. 3 and Nov. 8, USDA issued formal guidance four distinct times, each providing our states with new directives that were contrary to its earlier guidance," Bonta said in a statement. "Those contradictory messages underscore that USDA’s actions have been arbitrary, they've been capricious and demonstrates why we need the court to step in to provide clarity and concrete guidance."

On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued an emergency stay, as a procedural matter, allowing the Trump administration to continue pausing SNAP benefits as it appealed the lower court's ruling on the matter. That stay remains in place until Wednesday morning — 48 hours after the appellate court in Boston also ruled against the administration.

The administration indicated Monday it would seek an order from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court now could issue its own directive in the next two days, finally settling the issue, or let the lower court's ruling stand as the appellate court did.

Many critics on the left see the administration's antics as both gamesmanship, in an effort to turn poor Americans against Democrats for instigating the shutdown, and as a rehearsal for major cuts to the SNAP program that Republicans have pushed for for decades.

Federal judges in both Boston and Rhode Island ruled last week that the administration should tap emergency funds in order to cover SNAP benefits for November, with the Rhode Island judge ruling Thursday that full, not partial, benefits must be paid. The administration had previously said it would comply with the Boston judge's order and pay out partial benefits for the month.

In his ruling, Rhode Island-based US District Judge John McConnell said, "The evidence shows that people will go hungry, food pantries will be overburdened, and needless suffering will occur [if SNAP benefits are withheld]. That's what irreparable harm here means."

Following that ruling, California and other states immediately began sending out SNAP benefits on Friday.

Alaska used its own state funds to help backfill the program and pay out SNAP benefits, and its Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, tells the AP, "It’s one thing if the federal government is going to continue its level of appeal through the courts to say, no, this can’t be done. But when you are telling the states that have said this is a significant enough issue in our state, we’re going to find resources, backfill or front load, whatever term you want, to help our people, those states should not be penalized."

Previously: Trump Administration Agrees to Fund 50% of SNAP Benefits For November

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