Topline
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the federal government would withhold Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding from recipients for the duration of the shutdown, contradicting a statement from his administration a day earlier that it would make half of November’s payments.
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Key facts
Trump said on Truth Social SNAP benefits “will only be given when the Radical Left Democrats open up the government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
The statement comes after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a court filing Monday that it would pay half of November’s SNAP benefits using emergency funding, although it warned that some states would not receive the funding for weeks or months.
The agency made the statement in response to a federal judge ordering the Trump administration on Friday to begin making the payments.
Trump said Friday in response to the ruling that it would be his “Honour to provide the funding” if the court “can clarify as quickly as possible how we can legally fund SNAP.”
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote On Tuesday at
Crucial quote
“SNAP BENEFITS, which have increased by billions and billions of dollars (A LOT!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term (due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone to ask for them, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will only be given when the radical left Democrats open up the government, which they can easily do, and not before!” Trump wrote.
Big number
$8 billion. That’s how much SNAP benefits cost the federal government for the month of November.
Important background
The USDA stopped distributing SNAP funding to states on Nov. 1 amid the government shutdown, explaining in a notice on its website last month that “the well has run dry” to continue paying out the benefits. A group of 25 states, plus Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit following the notice, arguing that it was illegal for the federal government to fail to pay SNAP recipients and demanding that a judge order the USDA to continue the payments. The agency said Monday it would only partially fund the November payments after deciding not to use its $5 billion emergency fund to fully distribute the benefits. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit have asked a judge to require the Trump administration to provide the funding in full.
What to pay attention to
The next hearing in the case will take place on Thursday afternoon.
Read more
Trump threatens to withhold SNAP benefits despite court order (CNN)
Trump threatens to withhold SNAP funding until the shutdown ends (Politics)
The Trump administration will partially fund SNAP, but it could take months (ABC)
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