PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must fully fund SNAP benefits for November, rejecting an earlier plan by the Trump administration to provide only reduced payments amid the federal government shutdown. The decision represents a significant judicial check on the executive’s budget and appropriations strategy during a funding impasse.
The order was issued on Thursday afternoon by U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island. The judge found that the USDA’s plan to cut or delay benefits for November failed to comply with his earlier order.
Key points of Judge McConnell’s order include:
- The USDA must find sufficient funding so that SNAP recipients receive the full benefit amount in November rather than a reduced level.
- The judge criticized the administration for not sufficiently considering the real-world consequences of benefit reductions. “They knew that there would be a long delay … and failed to consider the harms individual[s] … would suffer,” McConnell stated.
The Hill continues:
The judge had told the administration it needed to tap other funds to cover the gap or expeditiously get partial payments out. The administration announced it would not tap other funds, but it warned the recalculations for partial benefits could cause weekslong delays in some states.
“If that continued to be the case then the administration was required under this court’s order to immediately make the full payment for November SNAP benefits considering the finding of irreparable harm that would occur,” McConnell said Thursday.
The judge’s new order requires the administration to make the full November payments to states by Friday, so they can provide them to households.
Lawyers for the Justice Department rejected the notion that the administration ran afoul of the judge’s directive. They contended that tapping the additional funds put child nutrition programs at risk.
SNAP serves roughly 42 million Americans, or about one in eight. The program typically costs over $8 billion per month.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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These liberal judges recognize the weakness/incompetence of Roberts and the Supreme Court and will not stop their usurpation of the Executive Branch’s authority. Ending lifetime appointments and making judges and justices responsible to the people thru elections is the only recourse.
Just who is running our country? President Trump or rogue judges? SCOTUS needs to step in. How can one judge overrule the government? What is going on?