In an article in the Washington Post, District Chief Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the USDA acted illegally in curtailing SNAP benefits that would have affected tens of thousands of recipients.  udge Howell noted that the USDA did not adequately address how an arbitrary decision to remove discretionary ability from cities and impose work requirements would affect citizens in the U.S.

In her ruling Judge Howell noted that the Administration rule "abruptly altered decades of regulatory practice leaving states scrambling amid exponentially increasing food insecurity".

Judge Howell was apparently influenced in her decision by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with resulting unemployment requiring continuation and real expansion of SNAP benefits.