A federal judge today ordered the administration of the US president to keep in place the SNAP program, which helps low-income households buy food, which was to be suspended starting tomorrow, Saturday, because of the .
The Department of Agriculture is being asked to use emergency funds to ensure that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which benefits more than 42 million Americans, continues. The government claimed that the program no longer had resources because of the shutdown.
Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island, appealed by municipalities, nonprofits and a union, ruled that the suspension of SNAP (formerly known as “food stamps”) is illegal.
The Ministry of Agriculture claimed that it does not have sufficient resources to continue the program which costs 8.5-9 billion dollars a month. The administration also says the department is not authorized to pay those amounts until Congress passes a budget and the shutdown that began on Oct. 1 ends.
The plaintiffs, however, noted that the department still has resources to meet its obligations, such as the $5.25 billion emergency fund previously authorized by Congress to be used when deemed “necessary to operate the program.” A separate $23 billion fund could also be used to avoid an unprecedented cut in SNAP benefits.
