In a lawsuit over food stamps amid the ongoing government shutdown, a federal judge has given the U.S. Department of Agriculture until Monday to decide how it will distribute benefits, either reduced or in full, to its 42 million low-income participants.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s order on Friday said a temporary restraining order “remains under advisement,” but that plaintiffs “are likely to succeed on their claim that … suspension of SNAP benefits is unlawful.” She said the “court has now clarified that Defendants are required to use those Contingency Funds as necessary for the SNAP program” and has given the administration until Monday “to consider whether they will authorize at least reduced SNAP benefits for November.” The department can issue reduced benefits out of its contingency funds or find an additional funding source to provide full benefits for November.
The order comes days after leaders of more than two dozen states sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the federal agency that administers benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
At a federal court hearing in Boston on Thursday, Talwani heard arguments from the states and from Justice Department lawyers. The Trump administration argued that the USDA cannot use its $6 billion contingency fund to pay for benefits during the shutdown because Congress did not approve the money, adding that even partial reimbursement would be “catastrophic.”
Talwani appeared skeptical of the federal government’s argument for why it couldn’t at least send reduced benefits, at times growing visibly frustrated and raising her voice.
Noting that Congress has set aside emergency money, Talwani said, “It’s hard for me to understand how this isn’t an emergency when people are losing their benefits.”
During a 2018 shutdown in Trump’s first term, SNAP benefits continued to be funded. And the Trump administration recently maintained that contingency funds could be used to pay for SNAP benefits during a shutdown, before reversing course.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
