"Specifically, on November 1, the court directed the Department of Agriculture to either tap into a $23 billion reserve fund for Child Nutrition Programs and fully fund November SNAP entitlements, or use $4.6 billion in SNAP reserves to make an immediate partial payment to the states. The USDA opted to do neither, instead docketing a declaration claiming to have transmitted "revised issuance tables to State agencies," transferring the obligation to individual states to rejigger and resubmit their own funding requests."
""As is required by Federal law, after receiving notice from FNS, State agencies must recode their eligibility systems to adjust for the reduced maximum allotments," the government wrote, adding that "For at least some States, USDA's understanding is that the system changes States must implement to provide the reduced benefit amounts will take anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months.""
"Judge McConnell hit the roof. At a hearing on Thursday, he scoffed at the DOJ's suggestion that it couldn't possibly tap the Child Nutrition Programs, which are fully funded through June, without starving children. He called the DOJ's protests "entirely pretextual given the numerous statements made in recent weeks by the president and his administration officials who admit to withholding full SNAP benefits for political reasons.""
President Trump publicly pledged to fund SNAP benefits if ordered, but the USDA defied Judge John McConnell Jr.'s order to immediately release funds. On November 1 the court directed USDA to use a $23 billion Child Nutrition reserve or $4.6 billion in SNAP reserves to fund November entitlements. USDA instead issued revised issuance tables and required states to recode eligibility systems, warning system changes could take weeks to months. Judge McConnell characterized DOJ defenses as politically motivated and issued a TRO ordering emergency funds tapped; the administration appealed to the First Circuit seeking immediate relief.
Read at Above the Law
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]