Poor Americans face food aid delay during government shutdown

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More than 40 million poor Americans face uncertainty over government food aid amid a partisan showdown in Washington, where two judges on Friday ordered Donald Trump’s administration to pay billions of dollars in benefits it claimed were unavailable.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) funds are set to run out on Saturday for the first time in its more than 60-year history as the government shutdown enters its second month.

While the government shutdown has furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal employees, the impasse has had less obvious effects on the daily lives of people living outside Washington.

That was about to change with the threat of freezing benefits widely known as food stamps. The nearly $100 billion donated in the past fiscal year provides assistance to about 42 million people across the United States. They each earn an average of $187 a month, according to the USDA. About four in 10 children.

The White House said that because Senate Democrats blocked passage of a spending bill in order to preserve government health care benefits, the resulting shutdown leaves it unable to fund more than $8 billion in Snap’s expected expenses due in November.

Federal judges in Rhode Island and Massachusetts separately ruled Friday that the Trump administration must continue to make at least partial payments under the program, rejecting its claims that billions of dollars in emergency funds were limited to natural disasters.

Despite the orders, at least some Snap recipients will not receive the money as expected on Saturday.

While it was not immediately clear whether the Trump administration would appeal the rulings, the president posted Friday night on social media that he had asked lawyers to clarify with the court how the government could fund Snap as soon as possible.

Before Friday’s rulings, Gina Plata-Nino, Snap director at the Center for Food Research and Action, an anti-hunger group, said: “Benefits will be delayed even if funding is restored now.”

Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. of the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island issued a temporary restraining order requiring the release of all available Snap funding, in response to a lawsuit brought by charitable, labor and municipal groups. Prosecutors had sought a national injunction.

In Massachusetts, Judge Indira Talwani said the Department of Agriculture was required to use reserve accounts to maintain Snap. The administration was given until Monday to decide whether to pay full or reduced benefits.

In her order, which responded to a lawsuit filed by more than two dozen states, Talwani wrote that Snap funding would not be available as scheduled starting Saturday.

“[A]“At least some recipients will not receive Snap Payments at the beginning of the month, and this absence of Snap Payments will undoubtedly cause significant harm to them,” Talwani wrote.

Her order noted that the Department of Agriculture published a “financing plan” at the beginning of the shutdown on September 30, emphasizing that Snap’s operations should continue. But on October 24, states informed that benefits would be suspended in November, Talwani wrote.

The Agriculture Department and the White House Office of Management and Budget did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “The bottom line is, the well has run dry,” said a letter posted earlier this month on the USDA website.

Snap represents 12 percent of U.S. grocery spending and is an important source of revenue for more than 250,000 food retailers, from Walmart to supermarkets and dollar stores.

“These benefits are incredibly important to every grocery store in the country,” said Matt Hamory, grocery industry consultant at AlixPartners. “Everyone depends on Snap.”

Economists said Snap’s suspension would limit overall consumption in the United States, as people are expected to cut back on food purchases and, in some cases, skip utility, car or rent payments to free up money for groceries.

“Given the widespread use of Snap… the contagion to other areas of the economy could be very significant,” said Dayanand Manoli, a professor of economics at Georgetown University.

Snap is estimated to shrink by $187 billion over the next decade, as the tax and spending bill Trump signed in July tightens eligibility requirements and shifts some costs to states.

“Consumer continues to navigate a challenging environment — with sentiment deteriorating, costs continuing to rise, and Snap-related headwinds expected to intensify,” Kraft Heinz CEO Carlos Abrams Rivera said Wednesday when the company reported results.

Major supermarket chains including Albertsons and HEB have announced big donations to food banks in recent days, while grocery delivery service Instacart has offered 50 percent discounts to Snap recipients.

Grocers are limited in the relief they can provide because federal law requires equal treatment for Snap beneficiaries and other customers, said Stephanie Johnson, vice president of government relations for the National Grocers Association.

The Agriculture Department this week warned retailers that they could not offer discounts or special services to Snap users, saying doing so would be a violation, according to a notice seen by the Financial Times.