Two Trump administration officials in charge of food aid are leaving their posts amid the government shutdown as the program that funds food stamps is set to lapse.
James Miller, the administrator of the Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Service, and Babs Hough, a senior policy adviser there, are moving to the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a senior White House official.
Politico reported earlier on the moves, which raised concern among aides on Capitol Hill, who are already bracing for the pain the government shutdown will inflict on their constituents.
With Mr. Miller’s departure, the agency will be without a permanent leader at a chaotic time.
The Food and Nutrition Service oversees 16 nutrition assistance programs, including the food stamps program, that serve about one in four Americans over the course of a year.
Starting on Saturday, Nov. 1, roughly 42 million aid recipients risk going hungry when funding lapses for benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
More than two dozen states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over its refusal to ensure continued funding for food stamps during the government shutdown.
The states, including Arizona, California and Massachusetts, described the impending cuts as unnecessary and illegal, and they asked a federal judge to force Washington to maintain SNAP benefits past Nov. 1.
An Agriculture Department spokesperson said the departure of the two officials was not related to the government shutdown, and blamed Democrats for the frozen funding and any chaos it caused in the programs.
Luke Broadwater covers the White House for The Times.
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