The three-judge panel of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled against the Trump administration regarding the distribution of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

The court denied a request by the Trump administration to block a district court’s previous ruling that full SNAP benefits were to be paid to all 42 million recipients during the shutdown. Additionally, the district court found that the government’s choice “not to make full SNAP payments was likely arbitrary and capricious.” Moreover, the court ruled that the district court’s earlier decision was appropriate insofar as “the overwhelming evidence of widespread harm” from stopping SNAP benefits was more detrimental than the reasons the Trump administration provided to want to stop payments.