The Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether SNAP payments should resume in full

It is up to the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress to decide when full payments will resume under the SNAP food assistance program that helps 1 in 8 Americans buy groceries, with some wondering how they will feed their families without government assistance.

Read more: “You can’t raise $8 billion.” Here’s what to know about SNAP benefits interruption

The Supreme Court is expected to rule Tuesday on a request by President Donald Trump’s administration to continue blocking states from providing full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, arguing that the money may be needed elsewhere.

The swing rulings meant that beneficiaries in some states, including Hawaii and New Jersey, received their full monthly benefits while in others, such as Nebraska and West Virginia, they received nothing.

The legal wrangling could become moot if the US House of Representatives adopts legislation and Trump signs it to quickly end the federal government shutdown.

Urgent need for beneficiaries

Successive legal rulings — as well as each state’s varying responses to the shutdown — mean that people who rely on SNAP are in vastly different situations. Some have all of their benefits, others have none. In states such as North Carolina and Texas, recipients received partial payments.

In Pennsylvania, full November benefits were disbursed to some people on Friday. But Jim Mallyard, 41, of Franklin said he had not received anything as of Monday.

Mallyard works full time to care for his blind wife, who suffered several strokes this year, and his teenage daughter, who suffered severe medical complications from surgery last year.

This stress was exacerbated by the temporary halt of the $350 a month SNAP payment he had previously received for himself, his wife and his daughter. He said he’s down to $10 in his account and is relying on what’s left in his pantry — mostly rice and ramen.

“I’ve been spending a lot of nights kind of late, making sure I have everything so I’m sure I’m right,” Mallyard said. “To say that anxiety has been my problem for the past two weeks is putting it mildly.”

The political wrangling in Washington has shocked many Americans, and some have moved to help.

“I think I’ve spent money on stupider things than trying to feed other people during an artificial famine,” said Ashley Oxenford, a teacher who set up a “mini food pantry” in her front yard this week for vulnerable neighbors in Carthage, New York.

SNAP has been the center of an intense battle in court

The Trump administration chose to cut SNAP funding after October due to the shutdown. That decision sparked lawsuits and a series of swift and contradictory court rulings that take issue with government power — and affect about 42 million Americans’ access to food.

The administration agreed with two rulings issued on October 31 by judges who said the government must provide at least partial funding for SNAP. Ultimately, she said, beneficiaries will receive up to 65% of their regular benefits. But it balked last week when a judge said it must fully fund the program for November, even if it meant raising money the government said it needed to conserve for emergencies elsewhere.

The US Supreme Court agreed to temporarily halt this order.

The Court of Appeal said Monday that full funding must resume, and that requirement is set to begin Tuesday night unless the Supreme Court takes action again.

Congress talks about reopening the government

The U.S. Senate on Monday passed legislation to reopen the federal government with a plan that includes replenishing SNAP funds.

House Speaker Mike Johnson asked House members to return to Washington to consider the agreement concluded by a small group of Democrats in the Senate with Republicans.

Trump did not say whether he would sign it if it reached his office, but he told reporters at the White House on Sunday that “it appears we are nearing the end of the shutdown.”

If the deal is finalized, it’s not clear how quickly SNAP benefits might kick in.

However, the Trump administration said in a Supreme Court filing on Monday that the matter should not be up to the courts.

The Attorney General, Dr. John Sawyer in the papers: “The solution to this crisis is not for federal courts to reallocate resources without legal authority.” “The only way to end this crisis – which the executive branch insists on ending – is for Congress to reopen the government.”

Associated Press reporter Kara Anna in Carthage, New York, contributed.