The Trump administration will provide partial food stamp benefits this month as the government shutdown approaches a record length, officials told a federal judge Monday.
The administration indicated it will not tap other funds to fill the gap, meaning the more than 40 million people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are set to receive reduced benefits. Administration officials have warned those recalculations could spur significant delays before November payments reach households.
On Friday, two federal judges ruled the Trump administration must empty a roughly $5.25 billion emergency fund before cutting off SNAP.
It is not enough to cover the full November benefits, which are expected to cost upwards of $9 billion. The judges indicated the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) could use dollars from another funding source to fill the remaining gap for November.
The new update indicates the Trump administration will not do so, calling it an “unacceptable risk.”
“Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funds are not a contingency fund for SNAP,” Patrick Penn, who oversees the SNAP program at the USDA, wrote in a sworn declaration Monday.
“Using billions of dollars from Child Nutrition for SNAP would leave an unprecedented gap in Child Nutrition funding that Congress has never had to fill with annual appropriations, and USDA cannot predict what Congress will do under these circumstances,” he continued.
Penn said USDA can provide states with the specifics on the reductions later Monday so they can begin calculating each household’s new benefit amount. But he warned of disruptions and long delays, suggesting many SNAP recipients will be without benefits for some time.
“For at least some States, USDA’s understanding is that the system changes States must implement to provide the reduced benefit amounts will take anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months,” Penn said.
The SNAP lapse has become one of the most visible signs of the government shutdown as it approaches its sixth week.
Democratic-led states, cities and private groups sued the administration last week as it warned that SNAP benefits would expire in November as shutdown negotiations remained at a stalemate.
The Trump administration argued that the SNAP emergency fund is only meant for unforeseen disasters, like hurricanes and earthquakes, and it can’t be used to mitigate government shutdowns.
But U.S. District Judges John McConnell and Indira Talwani, both appointees of former President Obama, rejected the argument in separate rulings Friday.
McConnell had mandated an update by midday Monday. The administration is still due to provide Talwani an update later in the day.
Updated at 12:49 p.m. EST
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