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The Trump administration informed states on Friday, Nov. 7, that they would start funding benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in full after a federal judge ordered them to so, NBC News reported.
The administration had claimed the ongoing government shutdown meant they didn’t have enough money, and initially pushed back against an order made on Thursday, Nov. 6, by U.S. District Judge John McConnell, who said the government had to deliver payments in full to the states by Friday.
The Department of Agriculture is now starting to fund SNAP while the administration’s appeal to do so moves through the courts, according to NBC.
While SNAP is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, funds are allocated to the individual states. The states are then in charge of distributing SNAP benefits, or food stamps, to residents.
Due to the ongoing government shutdown, the USDA was unable to distribute November’s funds on time, leading to intervention from two federal judges: McConnell and U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani.
Both ruled on Oct. 31 that the administration had until Monday, Nov. 3, to respond to their rulings to pay at least partial SNAP benefits. The administration said they would use $4.65 billion in contingency funds to partially cover the benefits, which amount to about $9 billion in total for the month of November.
McConnell said Thursday that the administration did not deliver the payments “expeditiously” and “efficiently,” as he had previously ordered.
“People have gone without for too long. Not making payments to them for even another day is simply unacceptable,” McConnell said, per NBC. He added, “This should never happen in America.”
One day later, on Friday, the Trump administration asked for an emergency pause on McConnell’s order, saying that the shutdown had rendered them unable to pay in full.
“This is a crisis, to be sure, but it is a crisis occasioned by congressional failure, and that can only be solved by congressional action,” the administration wrote.
“This Court should allow USDA to continue with the partial payment and not compel the agency to transfer billions of dollars from another safety net program with no certainty of their replenishment,” they added.
By Friday afternoon, they announced they would begin fully funding the program.
Late last month, states began warning SNAP recipients that their November benefits might not come through if the shutdown continued. Now, with the government remaining stagnant for its fifth consecutive week, SNAP benefits have lapsed for the first time in the program’s 61-year history.
SNAP benefits are used by around 42 million low-income Americans to supplement their grocery budget. Recipients are issued electronic benefits on a card that can be used to purchase food just like a debit or credit card.
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Trump spoke about grocery prices in a speech to the American Business Forum on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
“Grocery prices are way down, and Walmart just announced that the cost of their standard Thanksgiving meal — this is the greatest, their greatest. It is 25% lower than one year ago. That’s a big deal,” he said.
However, on Friday, an NBC reporter in the Oval Office pointed out to the president that this year’s Walmart meal contains six fewer items than last year.
“Well, I haven’t heard that,” Trump said. He then dismissed the issue by asking what outlet she was with, and declaring, “Fake news.”
