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On Friday, “a federal judge ordered U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to fully fund this month's food aid for 42 million low-income Americans… blocking its plan to only provide reduced benefits during the government shutdown. U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island accused the administration of withholding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, known as SNAP or food stamps, for ‘political reasons’ as he ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the program so people get 100% of their benefits.” Reuters
The Trump administration in response asked the Supreme Court to pause the ruling. “On Friday night, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued the administrative stay that the government had requested, giving the court of appeals time to weigh in on the Trump administration’s motion for a stay pending appeal.” SCOTUSblog
The left criticizes the administration for not fully funding SNAP benefits.
“Congress set aside a $6 billion contingency reserve to pay SNAP benefits in just this type of situation, and also gave the USDA authority to transfer funds from one food assistance program to another as needed… [The administration] claims that it is refusing to transfer the needed funds to SNAP out of concern that Congress might, for the first time in almost 80 years, decide to defund the child nutrition programs — something nobody in either party is proposing to do…
“One can only conclude from all this foot-dragging without any legal justification that the Trump administration is seeking to maximize the suffering of low-income Americans to gain political leverage on Democratic lawmakers. The USDA’s warning last week that stores cannot offer discounts to households that have lost their SNAP benefits seems to support that conclusion.”
David A. Super, MSNBC
“This is the first time that SNAP has gone unfunded during a government shutdown, as Congress has historically ensured contingency funds are available so the food assistance program can continue without a hitch. The Trump administration is ignoring that precedent, despite the USDA holding emergency funding that [Judge] McConnell ordered to be used for SNAP…
“Against all of this legal back and forth, on October 31, the day SNAP funding expired, Trump was busy hosting a ‘Great Gatsby’- themed Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago… Democrats were quick to respond. ‘This is a ‘let them eat cake’ moment if there ever was one,’ Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico commented. ‘The party theme was ‘A Little Party Never Killed Nobody.’ While a party might not, his cuts to SNAP could,’ Rep. Pramilla Jayapal quipped.”
Shirin Ali, Slate
“Mega-employers like Walmart pay notoriously low wages that leave employees reliant on public assistance; in fact, Walmart’s low-paid workers cost taxpayers an estimated $6.2 billion a year in food stamps, Medicaid, and other help. It’s a vicious cycle: Our policies prop up ‘working poverty’ with programs like SNAP, effectively incentivizing companies to keep wages down…
“We’ve set the stage so that millions of Americans are one missed check away from hunger, then we dangle that over their heads for political gain… We have surpluses and wealth in this country beyond imagination, yet 27.5 million tons of American soybeans sat unsold at one point as a result of trade war tariffs — food rotting in silos because of political machinations — while children in this same country go to bed hungry. How did basic governance get twisted into a hostage crisis?”
Alain Stephens, The Intercept
The right argues that Democrats should reopen the government if they want SNAP to be funded.
The right argues that Democrats should reopen the government if they want SNAP to be funded.
“House Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, passed a ‘clean’ continuing resolution a month ago — funding SNAP and core services at current levels, no strings attached; it would’ve kept every EBT card loaded through Christmas. The GOP has the votes to pass it in the Senate, too — but Democrats there have filibustered it 13 times to prevent a floor vote. Why? They want $1.5 trillion in new spending…
“Basically, they want an end-run around the 2024 election that put Donald Trump back in the White House and gave the GOP control of both houses of Congress. The Dems don’t like the legislative consequences of the sweep, so they’re holding SNAP recipients hostage to try to make the Republicans give in… Even the American Federation of Government Employees — a Democrat lobby par excellence — begs for Dems to let the GOP bill pass so its members can get paid.”
Editorial Board, New York Post
“It is one thing for a federal judge to order the executive branch to pay benefits by emptying an emergency fund created specifically to fund that program, but it is an entirely different matter to start siphoning dollars from a federal fund designed to support one program to bail out a completely different federal program. That is not how the Constitution works…
“Democrats say they care about protecting poor people, but they are the ones keeping the government closed. The Constitution gives Congress, not courts, the power to appropriate money. If Democrats want to ensure that 42 million people receive their full food stamp benefits, they can do so today by voting to reopen the government. Every day they refuse to act, they deepen the suffering of low-income families, jeopardize essential programs, and invite judicial overreach.”
Editorial Board, Washington Examiner
“[Judge] McConnell is a hardcore liberal Democrat. He's a major funder of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. He was on the Finance Committee for a Hillary Clinton campaign, a six-figure Democrat donor, and a Planned Parenthood Board member. And he has a demonstrated animus against President Trump…
“There is no reason for the SNAP cases to be brought in Rhode Island other than that my deceased dog could have written the winning brief in a case opposing Trump if McConnell were the judge. Early in the Trump administration, McConnell referred to Trump as a tyrant as he ruled that the federal government could not pause federal grants. Not only should a suit against USDA not have been brought in Rhode Island, but McConnell, in my view, should have been barred from hearing any cases involving the administration.”
Streiff, Redstate
