Judge gives Trump administration until Monday to have a plan for SNAP benefits : NPR
Volunteers organize donations of beans, powdered milk and other nonperishable items during a food drive in front of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Thursday in Washington, DC. The event brought together religious leaders, food bank workers and furloughed federal employees who demanded that the Trump administration release billions in emergency funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
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A federal judge said the Trump administration has until “no later than Monday” to determine whether it must provide at least partial SNAP food benefits to 42 million low-income people. Judge Indira Talwani acknowledged this would leave millions of people without assistance from Saturday.
Two dozen Democratic-led states have sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the administration’s decision to suspend the nation’s largest anti-hunger program for the first time in its history. The judge wrote that he was right to challenge this as illegal. But she declined to issue a temporary restraining order, saying that resuming payments at some point can still avoid irreparable harm to SNAP recipients.
Talwani said the Department of Agriculture must use emergency funds to maintain SNAP. She also said other funds were legally available, but left it up to the administration to decide how much proceeds to distribute.
