Snap food benefits – Trump must fully fund aid program by Friday

A US judge has ordered the Trump administration to fully fund the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), also known as food stamps, and accused the administration of withholding food aid “for political reasons.”

Judge John McConnell said in his order Thursday that without this aid, “16 million children are at immediate risk of hunger.”

The program is used by about 42 million people – or about 1 in 8 people – in America and helps low-income people buy groceries.

The administration had initially planned to completely stop its funding this month due to the government shutdown, which is now the longest in U.S. history, but was ordered to make at least a partial payment.

The judge, based in Rhode Island, also criticized President Donald Trump for saying the benefits would only be distributed after the government shutdown ends, calling it an “intent to defy the court order.”

He granted the request of several local governments and nonprofit groups that the government provide the full food benefits, instead of the 65% that had been ordered to be provided this month.

Judge McConnell, appointed by President Barack Obama, ordered the benefits to be paid by Friday, adding that any further delay would be “simply unacceptable.”

“This should never happen in America,” he continued.

He added that the government “knew there would be a long delay in payment [partial] SNAP and failed to take into account the harms that would be suffered by people who rely on these benefits.”

The White House has announced its intention to appeal the decision. After Trump promised to withhold aid until the shutdown ends, his spokeswoman clarified that the administration would comply with the judge’s order.

Trump, reacting to the decision at a dinner with Central Asian leaders at the White House, blamed Democrats for the shutdown and said there were too many undeserving people using the Snap program.

“This was aimed at people who had real problems. In many cases, people who were depressed,” Trump said.

“It wasn’t aimed at people who say, ‘Well, I don’t want to work.'”

Sitting next to Trump, Vice President JD Vance intervened and accused the judge of “telling the president how he should sort the situation.”

“The American people are unfortunately about to start experiencing very real consequences of the shutdown,” Vance added, highlighting the problems with Snap but also with airports.

Democracy Forward, an advocacy group that filed the lawsuit, hailed the judge’s ruling as a “major victory.”

“The court couldn’t be clearer: The Trump-Vance administration must stop playing politics with people’s lives by delaying the Snap payments they are forced to issue,” Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman said in a statement.

More than 42 million Americans received Snap benefits, but the program remained in limbo during the more than month-long shutdown.

While U.S. states administer benefits individually, the program relies on money from the federal government, which is no longer funded and has been shut down since October 1.

Late last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which runs Snap, said it would not fully distribute food aid funds starting November 1 due to the shutdown, saying, “The well has run dry.”

Half the states and the District of Columbia sued the administration over the food aid freeze and argued they had a legal obligation to keep the program operating within their borders.

Federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled that the administration must use $5.25 billion (£4 billion) in emergency funds to make at least partial payments to Americans.

Snap costs about $8 billion a month and allows many low-income Americans to shop for groceries. It provides them with reloadable debit cards that they can use to buy food.

A family of four receives an average of $715 per month, which works out to just under $6 per day per person.

Amid the uncertainty surrounding Snap’s funding, local governments helped direct beneficiaries to charitable food pantries that held emergency collections.

The money-saving recipes have also gone viral online, as Americans look for ways to stretch their budgets.