Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., helps distribute food aid bags during a free food distribution at the Young Family YMCA in Atlanta Thursday. The longest federal government shutdown has resulted in a loss of benefits for SNAP recipients and unpaid federal workers. The YMCA’s weekly neighborhood food distribution gave out nearly 10,000 pounds of food to about 400 families. Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA
President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday appealed an order that had demanded that it pay out full benefits to those in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for November.
On Thursday, Rhode Island federal Judge Jack McConnell ordered the administration to pay out the full benefits within one day, saying “People have gone without for too long.” Now, the administration is asking for an emergency ruling to allow it to only pay 65% of the benefits this month from a contingency fund.
McConnell had rejected that option, saying the administration could use Section 32 funds, which the USDA uses to help with child nutrition programs. But the administration rejected that plan.
Plaintiffs in the case, which are nonprofit organizations, asked for the full payment, and McConnell agreed.
“The evidence shows that people will go hungry, food pantries will be overburdened, and needless suffering will occur” if SNAP is not fully funded, he said.
“While the president of the United States professes a commitment to helping those it serves, the government’s actions tell a different story,” McConnell wrote in a written order.
The appeals court has ordered the plaintiffs to respond by noon EST Friday.
The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1, and the shutdown is now the longest in history.
In every past shutdown, emergency funds have been used to fund the program.
McConnell also mentioned a social media post that Trump made saying he refused to release any more funds until ” the radical-left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before.”
The post was used as evidence that the administration would ignore McConnell’s order.
