Judges Want White House To Fund SNAP
Two federal judges want the Trump administration to partially fund SNAP.
“There is no doubt that the six billion dollars in contingency funds are appropriated funds that are without a doubt necessary to carry out the program’s operation,” U.S District Judge John McConnell said in his oral ruling. “The shutdown of the government through funding doesn’t do away with SNAP. It just does away with the funding of it. There could be no greater necessity than the prohibition across the board of funds for the program’s operations.”
The food assistance program is set to expire on Saturday unless the government re-opens, impacting 42-million low-income Americans who are enrolled. A Rhode Island judge and a Massachusetts judge said the administration must tap emergency funds that will cover some of the SNAP program.
Both judges also left it up to the White House to decide whether it wants to authorize more funds to cover everyone enrolled in SNAP. It’s not known yet if Trump administration will appeal the orders.
McConnell requested that the administration have update on the SNAP funding by Monday at 12 PM ET.
Judges Want White House To Fund SNAP was originally published on wibc.com
