Written by: Dan Mangan
The Trump administration has asked a federal appeals court to grant an emergency block to 42 million Americans through November while the federal government shutdown continues.
The administration allowed the 1st US appeals court to take 65% of food stamp benefits from the judgment fund earlier this month.
It came a day after Judge Jack McConnell’s order in U.S. District Court denied Rhode Island’s partial payment option.
McConnell is $4.65 billion that the US Department of Agriculture plans to use from the emergency fund appropriated by Congress, using 32 funds using section 32. The administration had previously rejected the idea of using section 32 funds for this purpose.
In an appeals court filing Friday, the Trump administration said the “crisis” is not funded for full snap payments “that can only be resolved by congressional action.”
Since October 1, Congress has repeatedly failed to pass a stopgap funding appropriation that allows the government to reopen.
Instead of a new Snap Funding Passing Congress, Justice Department attorneys, a district judge crafted his own solution: order the USDA to pay the USDA to transfer billions of dollars earmarked for various, equally critical food safety programs, or within just one business day (i.e. today)
“This unprecedented order makes a mockery of the separation of powers,” the attorneys wrote. “Courts have neither the power to spend nor the power to spend. Courts are charged with the application of the law, but the application of the law to existing deductions.”
Plaintiffs responded on Friday, asking the Court of Appeals to deny the management’s request. The plaintiffs include a group of cities, charities and faith-based non-profit groups, a group, unions and business organizations, which also claimed that the individual organizations wanted to order the authorities to snap benefits to McConnell’s officials.
The response said the administration’s rationale for defunding child nutrition programs was “flatly ineffective.” These programs “require $23 billion in cash and only $3 billion per month,” the filing noted.
“They do not pose a real threat to roll back these programs by striking child nutrition funds,” attorneys for the plaintiffs said in their response.
Last week, the administration said it planned to completely stop payments for the supplement purchase program in November.
