[ad_1]
The Trump administration issued a memo asking states to “immediately undo” any actions taken to fully fund November’s food-assistance benefits, raising further uncertainty about the program providing aid to 42 million low-income Americans.
Amid the ongoing government shutdown, the US Department of Agriculture issued the directive in a Saturday memo and said states that do not “comply” with it could face financial penalties.
The memo comes as the Trump administration asked an appeals court to block a judge’s order requiring the US to fully fund the November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SN, by Friday. U.S. District Judge John McConnell ordered the administration to use alternative reserve funds to send the $8.5 billion to $9 billion needed this month to states.
The US Supreme Court temporarily halted the judge’s order to allow an appeals court to conduct further review, allowing the Trump administration to block $4 billion in food aid.
The Trump administration is challenging the decision in the First Circuit Court of Appeals and argued in its Friday filing that there is only enough money to pay partial SN benefits for this month. The administration had previously committed to covering 65% of benefits for November after losing the first round in court. He warned that the process could take several weeks or even months.
Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement that she believed the Trump administration was “demanding that food assistance be withheld from families who have already received it.”
“They would rather go door to door and snatch food from people than do the right thing and fully fund SN for November so that struggling veterans, seniors and children can put food on the table,” he said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
[ad_2]
