Trump says SNAP benefits won’t resume until government reopens

President Trump said his administration won’t restart the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food benefits, for 42 million low-income Americans until the government shutdown ends.

Mr. Trump blamed Democrats for the shutdown and the deadlock in Congress while accusing them of expanding the program beyond its intended purpose.

He said Democrats gave away “billions and billions of dollars” in SNAP benefits under former President Joseph R. Biden, accusing them of giving the funds to “anyone” instead of those in need.”

“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 those just in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!) will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up the government, which they can easily do and not before,” Mr. Trump said Tuesday on social media.

The president’s announcement comes as a coalition of cities and nonprofits returns to federal court to force the Trump administration to pay food stamps in full this month, arguing that otherwise poor families would face hunger.

The coalition will return to court one day after the administration said it would provide only partial benefits under SNAP.

In an order published Saturday, a federal judge in Rhode Island essentially gave the Trump administration the choice of providing full SNAP payments by Monday or partial benefits by Wednesday while concluding the government was obligated to fund the program if money was available.

The Trump administration went with the partial benefit plan, agreeing to use about $5 billion set aside for SNAP in an emergency reserve fund established by Congress. The Agriculture Department could have tapped more sources to provide full benefits to SNAP recipients, but declined to do so.

As a result, families are expected to receive about half as much in nutrition benefits this month as they normally would and possibly weeks or months of delays. Government officials acknowledged the possibility of delays and reduced benefits in court filings.

In response, the coalition filed a new motion in hopes of pressing U.S. District Court Judge J. McConnell of Rhode Island to compel the Trump administration to quickly pay the full benefits.