Trump Admin Appeals Order To Pay SNAP Benefits In Full
Trump Administration Appeals Order To Distribute SNAP Benefits In Full
The Trump administration filed an appeal after a federal judge ruled they must distribute Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by Friday.
According to CBS News, U.S. District Judge John McConnell said it was “simply unacceptable” for the Trump administration to wait any longer to distribute SNAP benefits. “Without SNAP funding for the month of November, 16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry,” McConnell said. “This should never happen in America.”
The Trump administration announced this week it would only distribute a fraction of SNAP benefits, defying McConnell’s previous order to distribute them in full.
McConnell called out the Trump administration for defying his previous order over “political reasons.” He specifically cited comments President Donald Trump made earlier this week, saying that SNAP benefits will be distributed “when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
From CBS News:
In a written decision, McConnell ordered the Trump administration to dip into the contingency fund as well as a different pot of money created by Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935 to make full payments of November SNAP benefits. That account is funded by a percentage of customs receipts on imports from the prior calendar year and aims to support producers of certain agricultural commodities. It had more than $23 billion in it as of Oct. 9, according to the White House budget office.
The judge wrote that as of Thursday, SNAP recipients haven’t received their benefits for the month, and he said the Trump administration knew that pulling from the contingency fund to provide food benefits would prolong their disbursement.
Administration officials “overlook the fundamental point that compliance is achieved when Americans are fed, not when the federal government shifts the administrative burden of disbursing funds onto the States — especially when there is still no clear disbursement date in sight,” McConnell said.
In response to the order, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an emergency appeal on Friday.
The appeal is a 180 by the Trump administration after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously said they wouldn’t appeal a court order to distribute SNAP benefits. The DOJ argued that McConnell’s ruling “has thrust the Judiciary into the ongoing shutdown negotiations and may well have the effect of extending the lapse in appropriations, exacerbating the problem that the court was misguidedly trying to mitigate.”
“There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,” the DOJ wrote in their appeal.
We found $20 billion to give to Argentina. Trump’s tariffs have generated over $200 billion in revenue for the federal government. The federal government has the money, but it’s choosing to play politics over helping the American people.
According to CNN, the DOJ also argued that McConnell’s order “makes a mockery of the separation of powers,” which is deeply hilarious considering that every move made by the Trump administration has made a mockery of the separation of powers. Now they’re deeply concerned about the process? They can miss me with that, y’all.
Vice President JD Vance was critical of the ruling during a White House event on Thursday. “In the midst of a shutdown, we can’t have a federal court telling the president how he has to triage the situation,” Vance said.
You know, a federal judge wouldn’t have to tell the president how to triage the situation if he simply took the initiative of his own accord.
Last month, the federal government shut down after Senate Democrats refused to vote on a short-term spending bill unless it extended COVID-era subsidies for insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). While the effects of the shutdown are being felt across the nation, low-income families are bearing the brunt. As a result of the shutdown, funding has lapsed for several social safety net programs, including SNAP, Head Start, and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Whether it’s providing affordable health care or ensuring children in low-income families don’t starve, the GOP has made the baffling move of using the government shutdown to show just how little they care about the average American. If the Democrats are smart, they’ve got a ready-made narrative ahead of the 2026 midterms.
SEE ALSO:
Judges Rule Trump Administration Must Continue To Fund SNAP
SNAP Suspension Puts Families, Children, Child Care At Risk
Drama Surrounding SNAP Benefits Should Mark The End Of MAGA
If SNAP Benefits Get Cut Off, White Grievance Will Eat Itself
When The Government Starves Us: How SNAP Cuts Target Black Survival
Trump Administration Appeals Order To Distribute SNAP Benefits In Full was originally published on newsone.com
