Judge to decide whether SNAP benefits can be cut off : NPR

Volunteers from the New York Common Pantry help prepare food packages Wednesday in New York City. Across the country, food banks and pantries are preparing for a possible surge in people needing food as federal SNAP payments are expected to be suspended Saturday due to the federal government shutdown.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

BOSTON — A federal court ruling could come as soon as Thursday afternoon that could avert a complete shutdown of federal food aid to 42 million Americans, which is scheduled to begin Saturday.

The Trump administration said benefits from SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, could not continue to be paid due to the federal government shutdown that began nearly a month ago. “The well is dry,” the USDA said on its website last week.

But Democratic governors and attorneys general in about 20 states have sued the federal government to keep the payments, arguing that SNAP is an entitlement that cannot be taken away. Doing so, they argue, would cause irreparable harm to millions of Americans and the states that will have to deal with the consequences.

After an hour of argument in federal court in Boston, Judge Indiria Talwani suggested she did not accept the Trump administration’s argument that it was legally prohibited from using a USDA emergency fund to continue SNAP benefits.

“Congress put money into an emergency fund, and it’s hard for me to understand why this isn’t an emergency,” Talwani said.

“It’s very clear to me that what Congress was trying to do was protect the American people,” she said, and lawmakers intended to ensure that in the event of a shutdown, “we’re not going to have everyone die because it’s a political game somewhere else.”

Even if the emergency fund is used for SNAP benefits, administration officials say the $5.5 billion falls short of the $9 billion needed to fully cover the entire month of November. They say recalculating and arranging partial payments would be a logistical nightmare – and could take weeks.

That means millions of Americans could still experience a delay in their next benefit payment and would receive less than usual.