The Trump administration told a federal judge in Rhode Island on Monday that it would tap billions of dollars in contingency funds to pay 50% of the normal amount of SNAP benefits in November as the U.S. government shutdown persists.
SNAP provides food stamps to about 42 million Americans.
The administration told Judge Jack McConnell in a court filing that it declined the option he suggested to make full November payments for SNAP benefits by using at least $4 billion from the Child Nutrition Program, as well as from other unspecified funds.
Instead, the administration will use all of the $4.65 billion remaining from a contingency fund for SNAP appropriated by Congress for “November benefits that will be obligated to cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments.”
McConnell on Friday ruled that the Trump administration could not cease paying SNAP benefits.
