Thankfully, two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown.
The rulings came on a day before the U.S. Department of Agriculture was set to freeze payments Nov. 1 to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps, saying it could no longer sustain funding due to the shutdown.
The Trump administration stated in court filings on Monday, Nov. 3, that it would cover half of what the 42 million Americans – approximately one in eight members of the population – typically receive in federal assistance to purchase groceries.
This includes 31,545 Nassau County households, or 43,404 individuals, as of July. At least half of adults receiving the benefits work one, two or even three jobs.
New York State statistics show that 30% of those using food stamps are children, 21% are elderly and many are disabled. Among them are people living in group homes who are developmentally disabled.
State attorneys general or governors from 25 states, including New York, as well as the District of Columbia, had challenged the plan to pause the program, contending that the administration has a legal obligation to keep it running in their jurisdictions.
The administration stated it was not permitted to utilize a contingency fund with approximately $5 billion in it for the program, which reversed a USDA plan from before the shutdown that had allocated money to keep SNAP operational.
