A federal judge has ordered the government to pay full SNAP benefits to states by Friday, in the latest rebuke to President Donald Trump’s administration.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary Patrick Penn sent a letter to SNAP state agency directors Wednesday saying it would pay 65 percent of typical maximum allotments.
The administration initially said it would fund 50 percent of benefits, before Trump contradicted the pledge, saying no benefits would be paid until the government reopens.
Earlier today, U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell rejected the plan to pay partial benefits to 42 million Americans for November. He also criticized Trump directly for implying he would defy the court order.
Trump wrote on social media that SNAP benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before.”
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The judge also came down hard on the U.S. Department of Agriculture about potential delays in distributing funds saying the agency should have made contingency plans for payments when the government shut down on Oct. 1.
The “USDA cannot now cry that it cannot get timely payments to beneficiaries for weeks or months,” the judge said.
Other administrations have paid Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds during federal government shutdowns.
“Last weekend, SNAP benefits lapsed for the first time in our nation’s history. This is a problem that could have and should have been avoided,” McConnell told Department of Justice lawyers.
“The evidence shows that people will go hungry, food pantries will be overburdened, and needless suffering will occur.
“Children are immediately at risk of going hungry. This should never happen in America.”
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Crystal Graham
