"Two federal judges in separate decisions ruled on Friday that the administration of President Donald Trump must continue to fund the nation's biggest food aid program, known as SNAP. The Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, had planned to suspend payments on November 1. It said it could no longer keep funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which costs around $8.6 billion (7.45 billion) a month, due to the federal government shutdown."
"The Trump adminstration had argued it was legally unable to use emergency funds to cover these benefits. "The well has run dry," the department posted on its website last week, prompting the filing of separate lawsuits. What did the judges rule about SNAP funding? A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled on Friday that the administration's decision not to tap into $5.25 billion (4.55 billion) in emergency funds to pay November benefits was arbitrary."
Two federal judges ordered continued funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and required the Department of Agriculture to tap emergency contingency funds to pay November benefits. One judge in Rhode Island found the decision not to use $5.25 billion in emergency funds arbitrary and directed distribution of the money as soon as possible, advising exploration of a separate roughly $23 billion fund if needed. A Boston-based judge similarly rejected the claim that contingency funds could not legally be used during the shutdown. Both judges demanded government reports on compliance by Monday. SNAP provides monthly debit-card food benefits to about 42 million people, averaging about $187 per person.
Read at www.dw.com
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