A federal court in Rhode Island on Saturday ordered the Trump administration to make full food stamp payments by Monday, or partial payments by Wednesday, recognizing the “irreparable harm” that failure to make timely payments causes.
The Rhode Island case is one of two lawsuits filed to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s suspension of benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as Snap or food stamps.
In a ruling issued Friday, Judge John J. McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island rejected USDA’s argument that it could not fund SNAP because of the ongoing federal shutdown.
McConnell’s order on Saturday gave President Donald Trump’s administration until Monday to come up with a plan to pay full benefits that day, or at least partial payments two days later.
At the end of Friday’s hearing, McConnell said the administration’s decision not to use $5.25 billion in emergency funds to fund the November relief payments was arbitrary.
He said the agency must distribute emergency money “as quickly as possible” and, if the money is insufficient, the agency must determine whether it can use money from a separate fund that has about $23 billion.
Immediate benefits are available to Americans whose income is below 130% of the federal poverty line, or $1,632 a month for a one-person household and $2,215 for a two-person household in many areas. States are responsible for the day-to-day administration of benefits, which are paid monthly.
The prolonged government shutdown, for which both sides have blamed each other, has put Snap’s benefits at risk.
The USDA has said there are insufficient funds to pay full benefits to 42 million low-income Americans because they cost $8.5 billion to $9 billion a month.
The administration has said the agency will not have the authority to pay them until Congress passes a spending bill to end the government shutdown that began Oct. 1.
Source: Terra
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