Oh SNAP: Judges Order Trump Admin To Use Emergency Funds For Food Assistance

Two judges have stepped in over the federal government’s suspension of food-aid benefits for tens of millions of Americans set to end on Nov. 1 amid the shutdown.

On Friday, US District Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island announced that he would order the US Department of Agriculture to distribute a pool of contingency funds “as soon as possible.”

While minutes before, Boston US District Judge Indira Talwani ruled that the US government must announce by Nov. 3 whether they would authorize at least partial funding for the program using around $6 billion in contingency funds – and if so, when will they do it.

McConnell’s order is related to a case brought by Democrat-led cities and nonprofits who sought to keep federal funds flowing the the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), while Talwani’s case was brought by over two dozen Democratic states and the District of Columbia.

Which, of course, completely takes pressure off Congress to find a speedy resolution to the ongoing shutdown. We’re sure judges will simply order federal employees to be paid, effectively un-shutting-down the government.

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By the end of the week, Democrats will be responsible for millions of Americans losing their food stamps due to their refusal to pass a clean continuing resolution to fund the federal government amid day number 29 of the shutdown. Already, working-class households are turning to food banks nationwide, and some of these free food distribution centers are warning of collapse, as they lack the proper supplies to fill the gap if food stamp cards go dark.

“Democrats have spent a month playing with people’s livelihoods because the far-left wing of their party won’t let them accept a clean, nonpartisan CR. If they want to prevent damage from their shutdown, then they can end their shutdown. The bill is right there at the desk,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune wrote on X.

At the start of the week, the American Federation of Government Employees, the country’s largest union representing federal workers, urged Democrats to abandon their current position and join Republicans in supporting a stopgap solution before more damage is done to working poor households and the economy.

Front page of the New York Post.

Working poor households have wasted no time in the government shutdown and shifted to food banks nationwide. Some food banks warn that supplies are getting low amid the influx in demand, and some even warn of a collapse if SNAP goes offline this Saturday.

Google Searches for “food bank near me” are exploding to a five-year high.

A New Mexico-based food bank director warned MSNBC: “For every meal that a food bank provides, the SNAP program provides nine. There’s no way we can meet that gap.”

Federal workers are getting their first taste of recession-like conditions.

Supplies dwindling.

The odds of a government shutdown being resolved next week stand at 26%, while the odds of a resolution after mid-November are 41%, according to Polymarket data.