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Confusion is swirling around the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, after President Donald Trump and the White House issued conflicting statements about its status during the ongoing government shutdown.
Trump said Tuesday that benefits would only be distributed when Democrats reopen the government. In doing so, he was threatening to flout a judge’s order and contradict his own administration after the Agriculture Department said in court filings Monday that it agreed to comply with the order to use its $4.65 billion contingency fund to pay out SNAP benefits during the shutdown.
“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!” Trump posted on Truth Social early Tuesday.
Later Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt walked back the president’s comments after a reporter asked her to clarify Trump’s statement and the program’s status.
“The administration is fully complying with the court order. I just spoke to the president about it,” she said, adding that the president was speaking about tapping into the contingency fund in the future.
Leavitt said SNAP recipients “need to understand it’s going to take some time to receive this money,” and went on to blame Democrats for the government shutdown.
The federal government officially shut down after Congress failed to reach a funding agreement before the start of the new fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.
A federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday ordered the Trump administration to use the Department of Agriculture’s multibillion dollar emergency contingency fund to pay out benefits for its 42 million food stamp recipients while the government is shut down.
It’s not clear when exactly that will happen. Many SNAP recipients have yet to see their usual monthly payment, forcing many to rely on food banks or go hungry.
U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell set an emergency hearing for Thursday, over allegations the government is not complying with his order by not paying at least partial SNAP benefits in a timely manner.
The cities and community organizations that sued the administration to pay out the benefits are asking the judge to either enforce his existing order or grant additional relief “on the ground that the decision to deny full benefits is arbitrary and capricious.”