US court blocks Trump's government of halting food assistance
(MENAFN) Two federal judges in the United States on Friday blocked the Trump administration from halting food aid for millions of Americans during the ongoing government shutdown, instructing the use of contingency funds to maintain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
The rulings, issued in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, came after lawsuits sought to prevent the US Department of Agriculture from suspending SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps, which were set to be cut off beginning Saturday. Both judges required the administration to return to court on Monday to explain how it will implement the orders.
President Donald Trump acknowledged the court directives on social media, stating he had instructed government lawyers to cooperate with the courts to release the SNAP funds promptly while reiterating that Democrats were to blame for any delays. “If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding,” he wrote, although prior statements from his administration had claimed the money could not be provided.
Despite the court rulings, millions of Americans may still miss Saturday’s food assistance because contingency funds were not approved in time, and states and vendors require several days’ notice to distribute the benefits.
US District Judge John McConnell, appointed by former President Barack Obama, said the administration’s refusal to release $5.25 billion in contingency funds for November benefits was unjustified. He ordered the USDA to distribute the funds “timely, or as soon as possible, for the November 1 payments to be made.”
SNAP assists low-income Americans earning under 130% of the federal poverty level—about $1,632 per month for one person and $2,215 for two—with monthly benefits managed and distributed by individual states. McConnell stressed, “There is no doubt and it is beyond argument that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn't already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food, for their family.”
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