Trump admin says it will provide partial November SNAP benefits 

The Trump administration will provide partial food stamp benefits this month as the government shutdown approaches a record length, officials told a federal judge Monday. 

On Friday, two federal judges ruled the Trump administration must empty a roughly $5.25 billion emergency fund before cutting off Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for more than 40 million people. 

It is not enough to cover the full November benefits, which are expected to cost upwards of $9 billion. The judges indicated the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) could use dollars from another funding source to fill the remaining gap for November.

The new update indicates the Trump administration will not do so, calling it an “unacceptable risk.” 

“Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funds are not a contingency fund for SNAP,” Patrick Penn, who oversees the SNAP program at USDA, wrote in a sworn declaration Monday.  

“Using billions of dollars from Child Nutrition for SNAP would leave an unprecedented gap in Child Nutrition funding that Congress has never had to fill with annual appropriations, and USDA cannot predict what Congress will do under these circumstances,” he continued. 

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