WASHINGTON ― States led by Democratic governors sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its refusal to pay food benefits to 22 million households next month.
The administration has said it can’t pay the benefits because of the funding impasse in Congress, which has forced federal agencies to furlough workers and halt services not necessary for preserving life or property.
Democrats have argued the administration ought to be able to use a rainy day fund to pay all or at least some of the roughly $8 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits due to be paid in November.
“While Donald Trump parades around the world trying to repair the economic damage he’s done with his incompetence, he’s denying food to millions of Americans who will go hungry next month,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press release about the lawsuit. “It’s cruel and speaks to his basic lack of humanity. He doesn’t care about the people of this country, only himself.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with Democratic attorneys general from 22 other states, argued in federal court Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, has a legal obligation to pay the benefits.
