Following rulings last week by federal judges telling the Trump administration to use contingency funds and pay for SNAP benefits, the early decision is to partially fund benefits.
Judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled separately Friday — giving similar rulings with the upshot of using $5 billion already set aside to pay for SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. With benefits and overhead costing over $8 billion a month to handle, it’s not immediately clear how much money will be available for beneficiaries and how soon the benefits will be available on debit cards. ABC News says the US Department of Agriculture has already warned it could be a few weeks to a few months before the emergency funds are available. Another emergency fund held by USDA is not being used, according to the department, because it would create a shortfall in the USDA’s child nutrition program.
The shutdown in SNAP benefits this past weekend is a direct connection to the federal government shutdown that’s lasted more than a month with no resolution in sight.
