Washington, Nov 7 (AP) A federal judge in Rhode Island on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to find the money to fully fund SNAP food aid benefits for November.
The ruling by US District Judge John J McConnell Jr. gave President Donald Trump's administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP), though it's unlikely the 42 million Americans -- about 1 in 8 -- will see the money on the debit cards they use for groceries that quickly.
The order came in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65 per cent of the maximum benefit, a decision that would leave some recipients getting nothing for this month.
“The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund SNAP,” McConnell said.
“They knew that there would be a long delay in paying partial SNAP payments and failed to consider the harms individuals who rely on those benefits would suffer.” McConnell was one of two judges who ruled last week that the administration could not skip November's benefits entirely because of the federal shutdown.
A week of twists and turns for SNAP beneficiaries ============================== Last week's rulings ordered the government to use one emergency reserve fund containing USD 4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments, which cost between USD 8.5 billion and USD 9 billion each month.
On Monday, the administration said it would not use additional money, saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the programme.
The next day, Trump appeared to threaten not to pay the benefits at all unless Democrats in Congress agreed to reopen the government. His press secretary later said that partial benefits were being paid for November -- and that it is future payments that are at risk if the shutdown continues.
Late Wednesday, the USDA, which runs the programme, said in a filing in the federal court in Rhode Island that it had done further analysis and found that the maximum benefit will be 65 per cent of the usual amount.
Speaking at the Greater Boston Food Bank in Massachusetts on Thursday morning, Democratic Governor Maura Healey said the Trump administration is sending mixed messages: “Come on. You know, you're going to partially fund food for Americans? You're going to let people starve?"
This report includes content sourced from Press Trust of India (PTI), edited for clarity and context.
