Trump administration seeks to halt SNAP food aid payments after a court order
BOSTON AP President Donald Trump s administration urged a federal appeals court Friday to block a judge s order that it distribute November s full monthly SNAP food benefits amid a U S administration shutdown even as at least chosen states explained they were moving fleetly to get the money to people The judge gave the Trump administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Operation But the administration inquired the appeals court to suspend any court orders requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund and instead allow it to continue with planned partial SNAP payments for the month The court filing came even as Wisconsin declared Friday that certain SNAP recipients in the state already got their full November payments overnight on Thursday We ve received confirmation that payments went through including members reporting they can now see their balances reported Britt Cudaback a spokesperson for Democratic Gov Tony Evers Uncertainty remains for various SNAP recipients The court wrangling prolonged weeks of uncertainty for the food venture that serves about in Americans mostly with lower incomes An individual can receive a monthly maximum food benefit of nearly and a family of four up to nearly although a great number of receive less than that under a formula that takes into consideration their income For numerous SNAP participants it remains unclear exactly how much they will receive this month and when they will receive it Because of the federal establishment shutdown the Trump administration originally had mentioned that SNAP benefits would not be available in November However two judges ruled last week that the administration could not skip November s benefits entirely because of the shutdown One of those judges was U S District Judge John J McConnell Jr who ordered the full payments Thursday In both cases the judges ordered the regime to use one urgency reserve fund containing more than billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments which cost between billion and billion each month On Monday the administration stated it would not use additional money saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the plan and that the other money was needed to shore up other child hunger programs Thursday s federal court order rejected the Trump administration s decision to cover only of the maximum monthly benefit a decision that could have left several recipients getting nothing for this month In its court filing Friday Trump s administration contended that Thursday s directive to fund full SNAP benefits runs afoul of the U S Constitution This unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers Courts hold neither the power to appropriate nor the power to spend the U S Department of Justice wrote in its request to the court States are taking different approaches to food aid Specific states revealed they stood ready to distribute SNAP money as swiftly as manageable The Michigan Department of Strength and Human Services noted it directed a vendor servicing its SNAP electronic benefit cards to issue full SNAP benefits soon after the federal funding is received Benefits are provided to individuals on different days of the month Those who normally receive benefits on the third fifth or seventh of the month should receive their full SNAP allotment within hours of funds becoming available the Michigan agency announced and others should receive their full benefits on their regularly scheduled dates Meanwhile North Carolina s Department of Physical condition and Human Services announced that partial SNAP benefits were distributed Friday based on the Trump administration s previous decision Authorities in Illinois and North Dakota also stated they were distributing partial November payments starting as soon as Friday for a few recipients In Missouri where executives had been working on partial distribution the latest court jostling raised new questions A spokesperson for the state Department of Social Services declared Friday that it is awaiting further guidance about how to proceed from the U S Department of Agriculture which administers SNAP On Thursday Nebraska Gov Jim Pillen had downplayed the impact of paused SNAP benefits on families in his state saying Nobody s going to go hungry Pillen a Republican and multimillionaire reported food pantries churches and other charitable services will fill in the gap for SNAP recipients We re going to do what we used to do Pillen disclosed I m long enough in the tooth where we took care of our neighbors before administration got into this business We knew who needed help We helped each other Lieb informed from Jefferson City Missouri and Bauer from Madison Wisconsin Associated Press writers Margery Beck in Omaha Nebraska Jack Dura in Bismarck North Dakota John O Connor in Springfield Illinois and Gary D Robertson in Raleigh North Carolina contributed to this document Source
