BREAKING: Federal judge rules on funding for SNAP program

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From Fox News: A federal judge in Rhode Island on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to fully fund the nation’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food aid program by Friday, rejecting the administration’s effort to only partially fund the benefits program for some 42 million low-income Americans.

“People have gone without for too long,” U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell said in court Thursday.

He scolded the Trump administration for failing to comply with the order he issued last week, which required the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the SNAP benefits programs before its funds were slated to lapse on Nov. 1 — marking the first time in the program’s 60-year history that its payments were halted.

The judge also said Trump officials failed to address a known funding distribution problem that could cause SNAP payments to be delayed for weeks or months in some states. He ordered the USDA to tap other contingency funds as needed.

NBC News shared the following additional details:

The Trump administration agreed to partially fund the program by using $4.65 billion in contingency funds to cover about 65% of the benefits that eligible households would ordinarily receive. But it declined to draw from additional funding set aside for child nutrition programs. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also said it would take several weeks to deliver the partial payments.

Given those expected delays, Democracy Forward filed an emergency request asking McConnell to order the Trump administration to expedite benefits or grant additional relief.

At a hearing Thursday, the Trump administration said it had complied with the judge’s order and argued that the reason people have not received their SNAP benefits is that states have not distributed them. Tyler Becker, counsel to the assistant attorney general, said the partial benefits were released to states on Monday, adding that “this is a state problem.”

Politico’s Kyle Cheney wrote, “HAPPENING NOW: Judge McConnell is sharply rebuking the Trump administration for what he said was defying his order to make full SNAP payments by Nov. 5. He has ordered USDA to make the *full* payment to states by tomorrow.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who has voted 14 times AGAINST a continuing resolution to reopen the government, cheered, “A judge just ordered the administration to make FULL SNAP payments tomorrow. As he said, “irreparable harm continues by the minute.””

Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also declared, “Today, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to use all of the funding at its disposal to fully fund SNAP benefits this month. Not $0, not $12, not half, but 100%. I say to President Trump: obey this court order NOW. Do not allow 16 million children to go hungry.”

X user and political commentator “Bad Hombre” wrote:

This is absolutely insane. Obama-appointed judge John J. McConnell Jr. is ordering the Trump administration to pay the full amount of SNAP benefits for the month of November. That would total to around $9 Billion. The emergency fund that exists to cover SNAP during national emergencies is $6 Billion.

Not only is he trying to usurp the authority of the sole power of the executive to spend money appropriated by Congress, the judge is demanding that Trump break several laws and violate the constitution by going around Congress to find an additional $3 Billion from anywhere in the budget to make up the shortfall.

The judge is trying to force the President to violate Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7, the Antideficiency Act, and the Impoundment Control Act.

These judges really do think they’re kings. Ignore.

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