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Trump official reveals concerning next step after SNAP benefit ruling; ‘this is emergency…’
Trump's administration was ordered to continue to pay for SNAP, the country's biggest food aid program, during the government shutdown.
President Donald Trump's administration was ordered, in two simultaneous rulings on Friday, to continue to pay for SNAP, the country's biggest food aid program, during the government shutdown. The judges, in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, however, gave the administration leeway on whether to fund the program partially or in full for November.
Trump's top economic adviser was quick to slam the ‘liberal judge ruling’, explaining the administration's next step to fund SNAP.
“We’re about to use emergency funds from the Department of Agriculture because of a liberal judge ruling that we disagree in the law on, but then we don’t have our emergency funds in case we have a hurricane, or we have an emergency,” Hassett, who serves as director of the National Economic Council, told Fox News.
‘Ensure people are fed’
US District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island ordered the Department of Agriculture to distribute a pool of emergency funding as soon as possible to fund November benefits. He added that the administration must explore other sources to ensure the program is fully funded.
“It’s clear that when compared to the millions of people that will go without funds for food, versus the agency’s desire not to use contingency funds in case there’s a hurricane need, the balances of those equities clearly goes on the side of ensuring that people are fed,” McConnell said.
Earlier in the day, US District Judge Indira Talwani issued a written ruling that rejected the administration’s stance that it is legally barred from tapping into billions of dollars in alternative funding sources to keep the program running during the budget impasse in Congress.
Both cases involve lawsuits seeking to keep federal dollars flowing to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The agriculture department, which administers the program, had said it would halt benefits starting in November until Congress approves a new spending deal.
(With Bloomberg inputs)
