Photo by Maria Lin Kim, Unsplash
Photo by Maria Lin Kim, Unsplash
“This president will stop at nothing to take food out of the mouths of hungry kids across America. Soulless,” Democratic Senator Patty Murray.
Republished with permission from Common Dreams, by Jake Johnson
President Donald Trump’s Agriculture Department on Saturday threatened to penalize states that don’t “immediately undo” steps taken to pay out full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November following a Supreme Court order that temporarily allowed the administration to withhold billions of dollars of aid.
In a memo, the US Department of Agriculture warned that “failure to comply” with the administration’s directive “may result in USDA taking various actions, including cancellation of the federal share of state administrative costs and holding states liable for any overissuances that result from the noncompliance.”
Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement that it appears the Trump administration is “demanding that food assistance be taken away from the households that have already received it.”
“They would rather go door to door, taking away people’s food, than do the right thing and fully fund SNAP for November so that struggling veterans, seniors, and children can keep food on the table,” said Craig.
The USDA memo came after Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that had required the Trump administration to distribute SNAP funds in full amid the ongoing government shutdown. SNAP is funded by the federal government and administered by states.
The administration took steps to comply with the district court order while also appealing it, sparking widespread confusion. Some states, including Massachusetts and California, moved quickly to distribute full benefits late last week. Some reported waking up Friday with full benefits in their accounts.
“In the dead of night, the Trump administration ordered states to stop issuing SNAP benefits,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said in response to the Saturday USDA memo. “This president will stop at nothing to take food out of the mouths of hungry kids across America. Soulless.”
Under the Trump administration’s plan to only partially fund SNAP benefits for November, the average recipient will see a 61% cut to aid and millions will see their benefits reduced to zero, according to one analysis.
Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center, stressed in a statement that “the Trump administration all along has had both the power and the authority to ensure that SNAP benefits continued uninterrupted, but chose not to act and to actively fight against providing this essential support.”
“Meanwhile, millions of Americans already struggling to make ends meet have been left scrambling to feed their families,” said FitzSimons. “Families and states are experiencing undue stress and anxiety with confusing messages coming from the administration. The Trump administration’s decision to continue to fight against providing SNAP benefits furthers the unprecedented humanitarian crisis driven by the loss of the nation’s most important and effective anti-hunger program.”
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