Posted on 11/03/2025 11:30:09 AM PST by Red Badger
Key Points
* The Trump administration told a judge that it would use contingency funds to pay at least some SNAP benefits during the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.
* SNAP provides food stamps to about 42 million Americans.
* The administration declined the option U.S. District Court Judge Jack McConnell had suggested to make the full November payments for SNAP benefits by using money from the Child Nutrition Program and other funds.
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The Trump administration told a Rhode Island federal judge on Monday that it would tap billions of dollars in contingency funds to pay 50% of the normal amount of SNAP benefits in November as the U.S. government shutdown persists.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides food stamps to about 42 million low-income Americans.
The administration in a court filing told Judge Jack McConnell that it had declined the option he suggested to make full November payments for SNAP benefits by using at least $4 billion from the Child Nutrition Program, as well as from other unspecified funds.
Instead, the administration will use all of the $4.65 billion remaining from a contingency fund for SNAP appropriated by Congress for “November benefits that will be obligated to cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments.”
McConnell, in a ruling on Friday, said the administration could not cease paying SNAP benefits. Before his order, the administration had rejected the idea of using the contingency funds in the face of the shutdown, which began Oct. 1.
Prior presidential administrations, including the first one of President Donald Trump, have used contingency funds to continue paying SNAP benefits during government shutdowns.
It is not clear when the benefits will begin being paid out by individual states. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the benefits could be paid by Wednesday.
In its filing Monday, the administration said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture “will fulfill its obligation to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds today by generating the table required for States to calculate the benefits available for each eligible household in that State.”
USDA authorized the states to begin disbursing the benefits once the table is issued.
McConnell, in a written order on Saturday, gave the USDA two options.
One option was to make the full payment of SNAP benefits for November by the end of the day on Monday by using Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funding and other unspecified funds.
The other option was to “make a partial payment of the total amount of the contingency fund and ... expeditiously resolve the administrative and clerical burdens it described in its papers, but under no circumstances shall the partial payments be made later than Wednesday.”
Patrick Penn, the USDA’s deputy undersecretary of the Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, in a separate court filing on Monday, told McConnell that the department had considered using the Child Nutrition Program funds.
But the department determined that those funds “must remain available to protect full operation of Child Nutrition Programs throughout the fiscal year, instead of being used for SNAP benefits,” Penn said.
“Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funds are not a contingency fund for SNAP,” Penn said. “Using billions of dollars from Child Nutrition for SNAP would leave an unprecedented gap in Child Nutrition funding that Congress has never had to fill with annual appropriations, and USDA cannot predict what Congress will do under these circumstances.”
The Nutrition Program includes school lunch and summer food service programs for children, he noted.
That means only one lobster tail per person for November.
Awesome!! So they are going to only steal 50% of the stuff they were planning to steal.
A reasonable compromise despite a good case to completely stop SNAP. The part that I hope gets pursued is that so much of SNAP (and other tax funded benefits) seem to be going to immigrants and illegal immigrants. That should stop completely.
It gets kinda murky if you look real close.
An illegal mother and father could have legal US citizen children that are perfectly entitled to SNAP, WIC, etc.............
I am actually so ticked off about this...in spite of accepting a fair amount of SNAP as a retailer. It is so stupid on so many levels, from somehow being able to use emergency money not intended for SNAP, the fact that the money is not enough to fund SNAP for the month, so just kicking the can down the road for 3 weeks at best, the idea that a judge can rule the President has to use federal funds however the judge rules he must, the idea that they ruled he could not enact tariffs because that is the authority of congress, but somehow he can just use the emergency funds for whatever, the fact they pitched a fit when he found money to pay the military, and on and on. Mostly sick of the fraud and BS in MA where I know I am swiping a card for someone who is here ILLEGALLY and will somehow vote for Wu and Maura!!! I hate everyone!
In that case, mom and pop gots to go.
They need to make everyone reapply for SNAP, start from scratch.
“The part that I hope gets pursued is that so much of SNAP (and other tax funded benefits) seem to be going to immigrants and illegal immigrants”
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Some backwater judges will decide and direct what the executive branch does. They run the country now.
Won’t happen but your proposal makes sense and is an excellent idea. Kind of like how zero based budgeting was supposed to work.
What a hero that Trump is to help out the needy! Just come out stating 1000’s upon 1000’s of dollars are on many EBT cards they been banking, greatest amount is $110,000.... What a guy!
“the idea that a judge can rule the President...”
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That’s where we are now. Trump didn’t insist on separation of powers to defend the executive branch and has been far too compliant in allowing judges to stymie his legitimate functions. This of course has only encouraged the rogue judges to be even more aggressive in putting up road blocks to stop him. They are effectively running the government now.
So, does this mean that the starving African skank is only going to eat half of all of the Caucasians she eats?
This jackass jughead needs his keister kicked. HARD! Why doesn’t the Suckpreme Court tell these amateur ahos to get back in their own lanes. They aren’t authorized to pull this fascist BS.
Mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, makes Trump look compassionate and doing what he can within the law.
On the other hand, it takes some pressure off the Democrats filibuster.
Ol’ “DNC Jack”, the Democrat stooge...
Now people be bitching about only getting half. When they should be seeing nothing but zeros on their EBT cards/
If mom and dad are illegal, then any dropped progenies are illegal as well.
The illegal mother and father should work or go back home. They can choose to take the kids with them or leave them here.
“Eligible households”
Maybe that means illegals will be out of luck.
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