Judge orders White House to pay full SNAP benefits by Friday
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President Trump speaking to Senate Republicans at the White House earlier this week. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
A federal judge rebuked the Trump administration Thursday afternoon, ordering it to pay full SNAP benefits by Friday, according to multiple reports.
Why it matters: Roughly 42 million Americans rely on these food benefits to pay for groceries each month, but the White House argued it can't pay them in full because of the shutdown.
The latest: Justice Department attorneys filed a notice of appeal on Thursday evening challenging U.S. District CourtJudge John McConnell's ruling.
What they're saying: "People have gone without for too long," Connell said from the bench Thursday, CNN reports.
- "Not making payments to them for even another day is simply unacceptable," the Obama-appointed Rhode Island-based judge said.
- "This should never happen in America," added McConnell, according to the New York Times.
Where it stands: McConnell ordered the USDA, which administers the anti-poverty program, to make the full payment to the states tomorrow.
- He said a Truth Social post from President Trump this week was an admission of an intent not to comply with the court's order, according to multiple reports.
- In the post, the president said SNAP benefits would only be paid when the shutdown ends. The White House later said that the administration is complying with the court order.
The other side: "Senate Democrats have voted 14 times against reopening the government," a spokesperson from the USDA said in a statement.
- "This compromises not only SNAP, but farm programs, food inspection, animal and plant disease protection, rural development, and protecting federal lands."
Zoom in: "The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund SNAP," McConnell said, according to AP.
- "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."
Catch up quick: McConnell and another federal judge ordered the administration to tap contingency funds available for the program in cases filed by advocates for the poor, states and cities and other nonprofits.
- Earlier in the day, the administration had sent out revised guidance to the states on how to calculate partial payments, after it said there were errors in guidance from earlier in the week. Under the guidance, SNAP beneficiaries would get 65% or less of their typical payment.
- And even under the revisions, 2.6 million SNAP recipients would get $0 for November using the White House's math, according to projections from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
What they're saying: "Today is a major victory for 42 million people in America," Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, a legal group that represents the plaintiffs, said in a statement Thursday.
- "The court could not be more clear — the Trump-Vance administration must stop playing politics with people's lives by delaying SNAP payments they are obligated to issue."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that the Trump administration is appealing the ruling and with statements from the USDA and from Democracy Forward CEO Skye Perryman.
