Emergency order over state of hunger will remain ‘until the uncertainty from the federal government is resolved’
By Shaanth Nanguneri, Oregon Capital Chronicle
The more than one in six Oregonians who rely on federal food assistance will have fully funded benefits for November, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said Friday, following weeks of heightened concerns about hunger during the longest government shutdown in American history.
The governor’s announcement came after Rhode Island U.S. District Judge John McConnell ordered the federal government on Thursday afternoon to release fully-funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for all states by Friday. Two federal judges last week ordered the Trump administration to tap into emergency funding after a coalition of Democratic states, including Oregon, sued for the release of benefits for 42 million recipients nationwide. The Trump administration is appealing McConnell’s latest order.
In a statement, Kotek confirmed families in the state are able to access their full November SNAP benefits through their Oregon Trail Cards beginning Friday morning, regardless of their usual payment schedule. The majority of SNAP recipients in Oregon are seniors, children or people with disabilities, and the average individual payment is about $190 per month.
“Oregonians shouldn’t have to wait for a court order to get the help they qualify for and need,” Kotek said. “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.”
The development does not end the state of emergency Kotek announced last week over hunger in the state, which “will stay in place until the uncertainty from the federal government is resolved,” her office said.
The Oct. 29 directive authorized the use of $5 million in available reserves for food banks across the state. Kotek on Thursday also directed $1 million to Oregon’s Tribal governments in response to the lack of consistent funding available for SNAP benefits. Those figures paled in comparison to the more than $140 million monthly the state draws from the federal government for the program.
Kotek’s office on Thursday also touted “emergency preparations” by the Oregon Department of Human Services with its vendor that allowed the state to be “one of the earliest states to process benefits for residents upon receipt of the judge’s order.” The process of loading SNAP cards through government agencies and vendors may take up two weeks nationwide, the Associated Press reported Monday.
The Trump administration last month announced that the government shutdown, which has now stretched into its fifth week, would prevent the distribution of SNAP benefits to recipients. That move sparked panic across Oregon with food banks warning they would not be able to absorb the blow of a loss of benefits through pantries. The Oregon Food Bank notes that “for every meal we provide, SNAP provides nine.”
The federal government on Friday sought an emergency pause on Thursday’s ruling from a federal appeals court, arguing that fully funding the programs would drain from other resources such as school lunch programs.
Kotek’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry about that move but offered a similar warning last week when two federal judges required the United States Department of Agriculture to tap into its billions of dollars in contingency funding. The agency previously claimed in a late September memo that its fund would continue to provide SNAP benefits during the shutdown, which began Oct. 1.
“I reiterate my call to President Trump and USDA Secretary Rollins to use available discretionary funds immediately. Any appeal of this ruling would show that the administration is allowing Americans to go hungry,” Kotek said at the time. “The federal government should not delay or spend another penny elsewhere before the deadline provided by the court. More than 750,000 Oregonians shouldn’t have to wait for court deadlines — do it now.”
Shaanth Kodialam Nanguneri is a reporter based in Salem, Oregon, covering Gov. Tina Kotek and the Oregon Legislature for the Oregon Capital Chronicle. This story previously appeared in the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
Related stories:
Jackson County Commissioners declare state of emergency amid ongoing food scarcity (Nov. 6, 2025)
A combined food drive and Oregon Senate town hall set for Medford on Saturday (Nov. 5, 2025)
Ashland Food Project launches campaign to keep up with demand (Nov. 4, 2025)
Trump administration must restart SNAP benefits by Wednesday, judge rules (Nov. 2, 2025)
SNAP recipients brace for benefit cutoff: ‘I don’t know how to do it with nothing’ (Oct. 31, 2025)
Local food banks struggle as demand increases while funding decreases (Sept. 14, 2025)
