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By Shane Croucher
Senior Editor
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The Trump administration has requested an emergency stay of a court order that requires it to immediately pay the full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November by transferring funds from elsewhere amid the ongoing federal government shutdown. The White House said taking money from child nutrition programs to cover the shortfall would "starve Peter to feed Paul."
U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. had on Thursday given Trump’s administration until Friday to make the payments to SNAP, which provides millions of low- and no-income Americans with federal funds to buy groceries.
It came in a lawsuit from cities and nonprofits challenging the Trump administration’s decision to cover only 65 percent of the maximum monthly benefit, which could have left some recipients getting nothing for this month.
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McConnell was one of two judges who ruled last week that the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely because of the federal shutdown.
The judges in both cases ordered the government to use a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Child Nutrition Programs fund containing more than $4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments, which cost between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month.
"This is a crisis, to be sure, but it is a crisis occasioned by congressional failure, and that can only be solved by congressional action," said the administration's latest appeals court filing in the First Circuit, saying it declined to "raid school-lunch money" to cover the gap.
"Instead, a single district judge has devised his own solution: ordering USDA to cover the SNAP shortfall by transferring billions of dollars that were appropriated for different, equally critical food-security programs—and to do so within just one business day (i.e., by today). This unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers. Courts hold neither the power to appropriate nor the power to spend."
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USDA: 'The Well Has Run Dry' for SNAP Benefits
Payments have been halted as the federal government shutdown drags into its second month, with the USDA saying in a notice on its website that “the well has run dry” and no benefits would be issued on November 1.
The court wrangling prolonged weeks of uncertainty for the food program that serves about 1 in 8 Americans, mostly with lower incomes.
USDA has argued that it lacks the legal authority and sufficient funds to provide full SNAP benefits for November amid the ongoing partial government shutdown.
The agency also contended in court that even if contingency funds were available, they would not cover the full payments and implementing reduced benefits nationwide would be administratively challenging.
Some States Covering SNAP Benefits Gaps
States have opted to take different actions in supporting SNAP recipients, such as increasing funding for food banks or authorizing access to additional funding to cover the benefits themselves.
Eight states have opted to provide direct financial aid to SNAP recipients, covering the lapsed benefit to some degree for varying amounts of time.
These are Maryland, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia. The District of Columbia is also making similar provisions.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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