Trump administration cannot withhold $4 billion for food aid, US appeals court rules

A federal appeals court late on Sunday allowed a judge’s order to stand that directs US President Donald Trump’s administration to fully fund this month’s food aid benefits for 42 million low-income Americans during the ongoing US government shutdown.

The Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals declined to halt Thursday’s decision by a Rhode Island judge requiring the US Department of Agriculture to spend $4 billion set aside for other purposes to ensure Americans receive full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.

The ruling by the 1st Circuit will have no immediate impact because on Friday US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson put a temporary hold on the lower court order by US District Judge John McConnell.

Her temporary hold remains in place for 48 hours after the 1st Circuit decision.

Jackson’s order, along with earlier court rulings and announcements by the administration and various states at the center of the litigation, has left the status of the country’s anti-hunger food aid program uncertain during the shutdown.

On Saturday, USDA directed states to “undo” any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, before Jackson’s order or risk financial penalties.

The administration had argued to the 1st Circuit that judges have no power to appropriate or spend federal money, and McConnell could not force the USDA to find money beyond a contingency fund in the “metaphorical couch cushions” to pay for full SNAP benefits.

It blamed Congress for the crisis and said it was up to lawmakers to solve it by ending the shutdown.

The Senate on Sunday moved forward on a measure aimed at reopening the federal government, which on Monday reached its 41st day.