Trump signals SNAP will be funded after judges rule contingency funds be used

President Trump said he’s looking into whether he can legally fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program after a federal judge ruled the administration must use contingency money to keep the program running.

The benefits were set to lapse Saturday as the government shutdown reached a month and the Agriculture Department said it didn’t have enough money to keep the program going.

“Our Government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available, and now two Courts have issued conflicting opinions on what we can and cannot do,” Mr. Trump said Friday on social media.

“I do NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT,” he added. “Therefore, I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.”

He said the assistance will still be delayed while states get the money out.

“If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay,” he wrote. “The Democrats should quit this charade where they hurt people for their own political reasons, and immediately REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT.”

The president directed people to call Senate Democrats and tell them to reopen the government and even included “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer’s” Capitol Hill office number.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins argued Friday that contingency funds won’t cover the program for long.

John McConnell, a U.S. district judge in Rhode Island, said the program must be funded using at least contingency funds.

“There is no doubt that the … contingency funds are appropriated funds that are without a doubt necessary to carry out the program’s operation,” he said. “The shutdown of the government through funding doesn’t do away with SNAP; it just does away with the funding of it.”

He asked for an update on SNAP funding by Monday afternoon.

Another judge in Massachusetts called the suspension “unlawful.”

“Defendants’ suspension of SNAP payments was based on the erroneous conclusion that the Contingency Funds could not be used to ensure continuation of SNAP payments,”  U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in her ruling. “This court has now clarified that Defendants are required to use those Contingency Funds as necessary for the SNAP program. And while these contingency funds reportedly are insufficient to cover the entire cost of SNAP for November, Defendants also may supplement the Contingency Funds by authorizing a transfer of additional funds.”

The contingency money totals $5 billion, which won’t be enough to cover SNAP for November, since the program costs $8 billion per month. There are other sources to fund the program, but both judges gave the administration leeway on whether money can be pulled from those pots.

Nearly 42 million Americans rely on assistance from the program.

A big message that pops up when the Agriculture Department website is visited blames Democrats for the lack of funds for the program.

“Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be benefits issued November 1. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats,” the message says. “They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.”