An extra infusion of $65 million in state aid for New York food banks will be sent to pantries in the coming weeks, the governor’s office said, regardless of Friday’s federal ruling requiring President Donald Trump’s administration to unfreeze food assistance payments for 42 million low-income Americans.

Two federal judges ruled Friday afternoon that Trump’s administration must continue to fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or food stamps, as the government shutdown continues. The decision came a day before the nation’s largest food assistance program was expected to be halted for 3 million New Yorkers.

Ralph Wesson gets $272 in SNAP benefits each month to buy food for himself, his fiancée and his brother, and typically runs short on groceries by the third week of the month.

“It’s hard to look into the eyes of someone you love and tell them you have no food for them,” said Wesson, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran from Troy, Rensselaer County.  

Wesson voted for President Trump last November, and said he’s regretting his vote. He pleaded with the president and Congress to resolve their differences before Americans go hungry and die.

“I did not vote for this, I voted on the platform of Make America Great Again and Make America Healthy Again and I thought for sure I was doing the right thing,” he said Friday. “But my beliefs have been shaken to the core.

“…I need the government to drop the problems that they have with one another, their personal problems, their partisan problems, and feed the people,” he added. “This is so important.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday declared a state of emergency and announced $65 million in extra state funds to help keep food pantries afloat in case aid is suspended. 

“This is not a bailout for the federal government because it’s their job to feed Americans,” the governor said during an event at New York Common Pantry in Harlem. “They always have and that’s what they have to do.”

A spokesperson with the governor’s office said Friday’s ruling won’t change the infusion of cash for food banks.

Any food pantry under contract with the state will automatically get a portion of the $65 million based on capacity, need, size and location. Food banks do not need to apply for the assistance, and can expect to receive the funding in the coming weeks. 

“No state should have to sue the federal government to ensure families can put food on the table,” Hochul said in a statement in response to Friday’s rulings. “But when Washington Republicans refused to act, New York took them to court to mitigate this crisis. My administration remains prepared for the worst — fast-tracking over $100 million for food banks and pantries and declaring a state of emergency. With these rulings, it is clear the Trump administration can fully fund the SNAP program. We’re calling on the administration to immediately release these funds and support our efforts to keep New Yorkers fed during the shutdown.”   

Hochul’s office would not say an official date that the funds will be released.

Hours before the judges’ rulings, Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins accused Democrats of lying about the sufficiency and availability of contingency funds to cover November. She said $9.2 billion would be necessary to pay out next month’s benefits and that the contingency monies are only allowed to flow if the underlying appropriation is funded.

U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko called on President Trump to stop blocking the release of the food assistance funding and follow the law as federal judges are demanding. 

The congressman held an event with food pantry workers and people who rely on food stamps in Troy on Friday before the ruling was handed down.  

Tonko, D-20, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture must tap into its $6 billion contingency to fund the nation’s largest food assistance program.

“We have a contingency fund that was created by both parties, both houses,” Tonko said. “And there is, by design, with our framers and our founders, a checks and balance system. And we should check as a legislative branch…specifically the House has the power of the purse should check on the executive branch when they’re not doing what legislatively intentioned items are calling for.”

SNAP recipients could see delayed payments for November. About one in eight Americans rely on food stamps for groceries, according to the US. Department of Agriculture.

The rulings are expected to be appealed, and the larger fight isn’t over until the government shutdown ends. Republicans and Democrats continue to blame each other for the stalemate. 

Now 31 days into the shutdown, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-21, blamed U.S. Senate Democrats for the deadlock on Fox News on Thursday.

“This is a Democrat Senate-led shutdown,” said Stefanik, who is considering challenging Hochul next year. “This is the same bill. It’s a clean funding bill that House Republicans passed that every Republican senator voted for. Democrats own this shutdown and it’s going to have real hurt across America. I’m already hearing from my constituents, whether it’s air traffic controllers, whether it’s TSA agents, or whether it’s those on SNAP benefits who really need those lifelines. So when we talk about Americans going hungry, this impacts every district across the country. Chuck Schumer needs to vote for the bill that during Joe Biden’s presidency, he voted for 13 times. And now they’re trying to leverage the American people to shut down the government.”

Tonko on Friday urged Congress to return to Washington and negotiate — blasting the HR-1 spending bill that Trump signed in July that cut $186 billion from SNAP benefits.

“Come to the table and help negotiate and maybe turn around that $186 billion cut to SNAP that you voted for so that billionaires can get a tax cut,” Tonko said to his Republican colleagues who control the House and Senate. “That’s not social justice.” 

Food pantry workers Friday said claims that SNAP is rife with waste, fraud and abuse aren’t true. The program is primarily used by women, children, senior citizens, veterans and disabled people.

“That myth of rampant fraud is a false narrative that needs to stop now,” said Food Pantries of the Capital District Executive Director Natasha Pernicka. “These are millions of people’s lives…This is not politics. This is a time for our government to get together and put people over politics.”

To qualify for SNAP assistance in 2025, a family of four must have a net income that cannot exceed the federal poverty line of about $31,000 per year.