President Trump's administration cannot suspend food aid for millions of Americans during the ongoing government shutdown, two federal judges ruled today, saying the government must use contingency funds to pay for the benefits.
The dual rulings by judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, issued within minutes of each other, came in a pair of lawsuits seeking to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture from suspending Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, known as SNAP or food stamps, starting on Saturday.
The USDA has said insufficient funds exist to pay full benefits to 42 million low-income Americans, as they cost $8.5 billion to $9 billion per month. The Trump administration contends the agency lacks authority to pay them until Congress passes a spending bill ending a government shutdown that began October 1.
But U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, at the end of a virtual hearing held in a lawsuit by cities, nonprofits and a union that the administration's decision to not tap $5.25 billion in contingency funds to fund November's benefits was arbitrary, adding they had never before been suspended.
Minutes earlier, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston ruled the administration was wrong that it was legally barred from using the contingency funds to pay for SNAP benefits during the shutdown. That lawsuit was brought by 25 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia. The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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