Trump administration to partially fund SNAP food benefits during US shutdown | Food news

The nation’s flagship food assistance program serves one in eight Americans each month.

The United States government will partially fund food benefits for low-income Americans after two judges ruled that the program should continue despite the slowdown. Government shutdownUS President Donald Trump’s administration Dr.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – the nation’s flagship food assistance program, serving one in eight Americans each month – was to be frozen on November 1 by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Said on October 10 that the program will not be able to fund if the shutdown continues.

On Friday, federal judges in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island Separate but equal judgments were given which asked the federal government to leverage the contingency fund.

SNAP, colloquially known as food stamps, costs more than $8bn to deploy monthly and covers about $190, or $356, per household. Benefits are typically loaded onto a debit card.

In a filing filed Monday in a Rhode Island court, the USDA agreed to “meet its obligation to spend the full amount of the SNAP contingency fund today.”

The administration will use about $5bn in funds, but no other funds to allow SNAP to be fully funded, the filing said.

Because the card loading process can take up to two weeks, it’s still unclear when beneficiaries will be able to receive funds again – and how much money will ultimately be included.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston ruled that the suspension of the program was “unlawful” and “wrongful,” giving the Trump administration until Monday to address how it can partially fund SNAP.

“This court has now clarified that the defendants must use the contingency funds necessary for the SNAP program,” she added.

In Rhode Island, US District Judge John McConnell reached a similar conclusion and asked the administration for an update on Monday, saying in a virtual hearing that it was “beyond dispute” that pausing SNAP could cause irreparable harm.

The decisions came in response to separate challenges to the Trump administration’s suspension of benefits.

Trump initially claimed on his Truth social platform on Friday that the judge’s rulings were “antagonistic” and used the potential loss of SNAP to take a shot at “radical Democrats.”

Right-wing misinformation about food stamps has surfaced online in recent days A viral chart that claims that “Afghans”, “Somalies” and “Iraqis” were the most beneficiaries of SNAP.

In fact, USDA data show that whites use SNAP the most, making up more than 35% of beneficiaries.