Federal Judge Issues Order Directing USDA to Use SNAP Contingency Funds
MADISON, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul today issued the following statement after a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts issued an order stating that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) must use its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contingency funds to fund the program during the ongoing federal government shutdown. The Court also stated that if the contingency fund cannot fully fund the program in November, then the federal government may consider other, additional funding sources. USDA has until the end of the day on Monday to let the Court know whether it will fully or partially fund the SNAP program.
“This is a critical step toward limiting the harm from the lawless effort to shut down SNAP funding prematurely,” said AG Kaul. “It is imperative that the Trump administration now move as quickly as possible to address the mess that its baseless position has created so that November SNAP benefits aren’t delayed any more than the administration has already made necessary.”
The order comes after AG Kaul joined a coalition of 26 states in suing the Trump Administration for suspending SNAP benefits in a manner that is both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. Today’s order makes clear that USDA must use contingency funds to pay for SNAP benefits. The federal Administration has indicated that the funds will not be enough to cover the cost of November SNAP for all 50 states, and the order puts the ball in the federal government’s court. The federal government must tell the Court by Monday, November 3, whether it will utilize other funding sources beyond the SNAP contingency fund to ensure that 42 million Americans do not risk going hungry in November. The timeline for when SNAP participants can expect to receive November funds is yet to be determined, and dependent on the federal government making funding available.
View this press release on the DOJ website here.
