As Republicans seek ways to pressure Democrats to end the government shutdown, federal courts have helped ease one issue: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Trump administration said on Monday it plans to partially fund SNAP during November using $4.65 billion in contingency funds after a U.S. District Court ordered them to do so. It’s a change for the administration: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins insisted Friday that contingency funds could not flow to cover SNAP benefits since the underlying program was not yet funded by Congress, despite an earlier plan saying the opposite.
Lawmakers have bickered for weeks over how the shutdown could compromise the program and leave millions of Americans without access to food starting Nov. 1. Republicans have accused Democrats of playing politics with hunger, while Democrats have insisted that President Donald Trump is legally obligated to tap the contingency fund.