"A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute money owed to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program "as soon as possible," just one day before funding for SNAP was set to lapse. U.S. District Judge John McConnell's ruling from the bench came shortly after another federal judge in a separate case said that the Trump administration's plan not to pay out SNAP benefits beginning on Nov. 1 due to the ongoing federal government shutdown was "unlawful"."
"There is no doubt that the six billion dollars in contingency funds are appropriated funds that are without a doubt necessary to carry out the program's operation, McConnell said in his oral ruling. The shutdown of the government through funding doesn't do away with SNAP. It just does away with the funding of it. There could be no greater necessity than the prohibition across the board of funds for the program's operations."
A federal judge ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds "as soon as possible," one day before SNAP funding would lapse. Another federal judge found the administration's plan to stop SNAP payouts starting Nov. 1 unlawful but did not order distribution. Judge John McConnell said $6 billion in contingency funds are appropriated and necessary to operate SNAP. The funding lapse affects program financing but does not end the SNAP program itself. House leadership was reported to be using SNAP funding as leverage in negotiations to end the government shutdown.
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