The Kansas Department for Children and Families has sent out full benefits to people eligible for the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — and it did so right before the legal landscape shifted again.
Governor Laura Kelly says the DCF decision to load full benefits came after a federal court order Thursday and subsequent guidance from the US Department of Agriculture. Benefits were loaded and sent before US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, an appointee of former president Joe Biden, paused the lower court ruling until a decision from the First US Circuit Court of Appeals.
This was the latest in a dizzying set of developments for legal matters which also included the Court of Appeals denying President Trump’s request to hold off on fully funding SNAP and the Trump administration seeking a decision from the Supreme Court. There is currently no word on when that ruling will be issued.
Governor Kelly didn’t reference Justice Jackson’s short-term decision in a news release Friday night, but she faulted Trump for asking the Supreme Court for authority not to fully fund the program. Kelly says: “It does nothing to advance his political agenda. It does not hurt his perceived enemies. It only hurts our most vulnerable and our reputation around the globe.”
Kansas is one of at least nine states that moved to get full SNAP benefits to eligible residents. How the Jackson ruling affects SNAP benefits in these states hasn’t been announced.
The Trump administration was preparing to load almost $5 billion from a contingency fund as a partial cover after legal developments over the last week. It costs between $8 billion-$9 billion to fully fund SNAP every month.
