US President Donald Trump on Friday issued a lifeline for low-income Americans reliant on food aid, saying he does not want them to “go hungry” a day before about 42 million people could lose their monthly assistance.
In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump said that “Government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay” the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits once funding expired yesterday during the ongoing US government shutdown, but added that he has instructed them to “clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.”
A US federal judge in Rhode Island earlier on Friday gave the program a temporary reprieve, ordering the White House to use emergency funds to pay for food stamps during the shutdown, in a case brought by charities and other groups.
Photo: Reuters
However, the Trump administration has been arguing it cannot legally tap that fund, and it was not immediately clear, despite the ruling, whether Americans would get their weekend SNAP payments.
Since partisan gridlock on Oct. 1 sent the US government into shutdown, many federal workers have gone without paychecks and millions of Americans are increasingly caught in the crossfire of a lack of basic federal services.
Now entering its second month, the federal shutdown has morphed into a slow-motion implosion of public services and a growing economic convulsion.
While Republicans and Democrats continue to blame each other, without immediate intervention millions of Americans would feel the full force of the shutdown for the first time this weekend.
CNN reported that it asked US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins if she would comply with a judge’s order to release the money and she responded: “We’re looking at all the options.”
At the heart of the congressional standoff is the expiration of insurance subsidies that make healthcare affordable for more than 20 million people. Premiums were expected to skyrocket when the new sign-up period opened yesterday.
Democrats refuse to reopen the government without a deal to extend the subsidies, but Trump’s Republicans say they would not talk until the lights are back on.
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children was also on the brink, while “Head Start” programs that provide nutrition and family support to 65,000 infants could begin shuttering. With uncertainty over food stamps giving Americans heartburn, communities have begun banding together to help vulnerable neighbors.
Kerry Chausmer, 55, from Bethesda, Maryland, said she was buying groceries for two local families in need — at a personal cost likely top US$200.
“I think that you can judge a culture by how they help the people that need it most... We’re failing, and I am honestly despondent and embarrassed to be an American,” she said.
The Trump administration said it has scraped together enough money to cover Friday’s payday for active-duty troops, but acknowledged they could go unpaid by the middle of this month. US air travel was beginning to suffer badly, with New York area airports John F. Kennedy (JFK), Newark Liberty and LaGuardia all under restrictions due in part to reduced staffing at control towers.
A ground stop was in effect at JFK until mid-afternoon, with delays clocking in at 60 to 100 minutes. Delays above three hours were expected at Newark while some passengers were bracing to be held up by as much as five hours at LaGuardia. Trump, whose shadow hangs over every Republican move, has largely stayed out of the shutdown fight, although lawmakers on both sides hope he would swoop in to broker a deal on the health care subsidies.
He repeated his pledge to sit down with Democrats over their demands — but only after the shutdown is over.
“We’ll meet very quickly, but they have to open up the country,” he told reporters. “It’s their fault. Everything is their fault. It’s so easily solved.”
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