Two federal judges in the United States have ruled that the administration of President Donald Trump cannot suspend food assistance to low-income individuals, signalling that the government must draw from contingency funds as a government shutdown drags on.
Friday’s decisions were released within minutes of one another, and both concerned the fate of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP.
About 42 million people — or one in eight US citizens — rely on SNAP to feed their households. That assistance was set to come to a halt on Saturday.
The Trump administration has argued that, since Congress failed to pass a budget bill in September, it can no longer fund the programme, nor can it use contingency funds to make up the shortfall.
But both of Friday’s rulings called that logic into question.
The first decision came from US District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, who gave the Trump administration a Monday deadline to address how it could fund SNAP, at least partially. It was “unlawful”, she wrote, to suspend the programme entirely.
She also ruled that it was indeed legal to draw from government contingency funds to pay for SNAP, as the government has done in the past.
“Defendants’ suspension of SNAP payments was based on the erroneous conclusion that the Contingency Funds could not be used to ensure continuation of SNAP payments,” Indira wrote.
“This court has now clarified that Defendants are required to use those Contingency Funds as necessary for the SNAP program.”
Her decision came in response to a petition from 25 Democrat-led states and the District of Columbia, which argued that the federal government did not have the authority to totally suspend the food assistance.
The second ruling came from the Rhode Island court of US District Judge John McConnell.
A group of cities, nonprofits and a labour organisation had challenged Trump’s pause on SNAP benefits there. In response, McConnell came to a similar conclusion as his colleague in Boston.
“There is no doubt and it is beyond argument that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn’t already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food, for their family,” McConnell said during a virtual hearing.
He called for SNAP funding to continue, using the government contingency funds, and asked for an update from the administration on Monday.
Never before has SNAP been suspended, as was threatened under the Trump administration.
Plaintiffs in both cases argued that the Trump administration’s actions appeared to be an effort to use food aid as a form of political leverage.
They also pointed out that, prior to the shutdown, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it would tap into emergency funds to maintain SNAP benefits during the shutdown.
But on October 26, the Trump administration then reversed course, posting a message to the USDA website.
“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the message read. “At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01.”
The USDA has at least $5.25bn in contingency funds that it can use to continue disbursing benefits, previously allocated by Congress for use when “necessary to carry out program operations”.
While previous government shutdowns have caused interruptions and delays in government services, the Trump administration has pledged to use the situation to slash government employment and programmes it views unfavourably.
The shutdown is currently in its 31st day. Democrats and Republicans remain at loggerheads over the passage of a budget bill to keep the federal government open.
Democrats seek to ensure healthcare concerns are addressed in the legislation, while Republicans have refused to negotiate on the issue until a continuing resolution, keeping federal spending at its status quo, is passed.
Top Trump officials on Friday continued to maintain that they could not legally touch the SNAP contingency funds.
“By law, contingency funds can only flow when the underlying fund is flowing,” Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told reporters.
But Democrats have applauded the rulings and criticised Trump for his threats. “The administration is choosing not to feed Americans in need, despite knowing that it is legally required to do so,” Senator Amy Klobuchar said.
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