Nearly two dozen states are suing the Trump administration for failing to salvage SNAP benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown.
Approximately 42 million Americans—about one in eight people—that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program stand to go hungry after November 1, when benefits are scheduled to expire.
“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” reads a message explicitly blaming Democrats on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website.
Two options remain to save the critical welfare program: a quick (if unlikely and, apparently, politically undesirable) resolution to the gridlock in Congress, or a chunk of change to keep the program chugging along until the next month.
A coalition of 23 attorneys general and three governors are fighting for the latter, arguing that the USDA not only has the funds to continue feeding Americans via SNAP through the month of November—the USDA also has “both the authority and legal duty” to do so.
“Let’s be clear about what’s happening: For the first time ever, SNAP benefits will not be available to the millions of low-income individuals who depend on them to put food on the table,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, one of four attorneys general co-leading the lawsuit. “With the holidays around the corner, we are seeing costs for groceries continue to increase and food banks facing unprecedented demand. We are taking a stand because families will experience hunger and malnutrition if the Trump Administration gets its way.”
The agency held roughly $6 billion in contingency funds as of September 30, according to a USDA Lapse of Funding Plan that acknowledged Congress’s intent to keep SNAP benefits fully operational through the government shutdown. Days later, USDA officials directed states to put an indefinite hold on the rollout of November benefits as the federal branch researched the potential reality of distributing its emergency funds.
When states demanded an answer following weeks of silence, the USDA announced that it would be suspending SNAP benefits indefinitely. In a separate memo, USDA officials reversed course on their Lapse of Funding Plan, claiming that they actually were not authorized to use the $6 billion contingency fund to provide SNAP benefits, lest the agency need the cash to tackle a major natural disaster such as a hurricane or a tornado.
The government has been shut down for more than 27 days as of Tuesday, making it the second-longest federal closure in U.S. history. It’s only bested by a 35-day shutdown between 2018 and 2019 that occurred during Donald Trump’s first term.
The post Half the Country Sues Trump for Using Shutdown to Slash SNAP Funding appeared first on New Republic.
