Federal judge rules Trump admin’s SNAP benefits cutoff ‘likely unlawful’

A Massachusetts federal judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration move to suspend SNAP food benefits to 42 million Americans due to the ongoing government shutdown was likely against the law — but stopped short of ordering the White House to tap into emergency funds to keep the entitlement flowing

In a 15-page order, Boston US District Judge Indira Talwani gave the Department of Agriculture until Monday to report whether it could “authorize only reduced SNAP benefits” using money set aside to respond to natural disasters “or to authorize full SNAP benefits” using the emergency money and “additional available funds”

Leaders of 25 Democratic-run states and the District of Columbia sued the USDA Tuesday after the executive agency warned that the “well has run dry” for SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, due to the ongoing shutdown.

Saturday will mark the first lapse in federal SNAP funding for 60 years, with the states arguing the Trump administration was violating the Food and Nutrition Act, which requires that “assistance under this program shall be furnished to all eligible households.”

Earlier Friday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins insisted to reporters that the contingency fund could not be used even if the administration wanted to.

“There is a contingency fund at USDA, but that contingency fund, by the way, doesn’t even cover, I think half of the $9.2 billion that would be required for November SNAP,” she said. “It is only allowed to flow if the underlying program is funded. If Hurricane Melissa or one of the hurricanes hits, that’s the contingency fund that we would use to send more money into the vulnerable communities that are harmed by a specific event, like a hurricane — but it is a contingency fund that can only flow if the underlying appropriation is approved.”