Trump ordered to fully fund SNAP
The Justice Department is appealing the decision
What happened
The Trump administration must fully fund November’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to the tune of roughly $9 billion by Friday, a Rhode Island federal judge ruled Thursday. Shortly after John McConnell delivered his ruling, the Justice Department filed a notice to appeal the decision.
Who said what
In failing to fully fund the food assistance program during the ongoing federal shutdown, the government also “failed to consider the harms individuals who rely on those benefits would suffer,” said McConnell. “Not making payments to them for even another day is simply unacceptable.”
His order came as “the partial funding disbursed by the Agriculture Department earlier this week had yet to reach” the 42 million Americans who “qualify for the benefits,” said The Washington Post. Vice President J.D. Vance lambasted the judge for “telling us what we have to do in the middle of a Democrat government shutdown.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) reportedly plans to call a vote on a new bipartisan package of funding bills Friday, as the shutdown enters its 38th day. Democrats, “stiffened by their party’s big election wins Tuesday,” are expected to block the package, Politico said.
-
Switzerland could vote to cap its populationUnder the Radar Swiss People’s Party proposes referendum on radical anti-immigration measure to limit residents to 10 million
-
Political cartoons for February 15Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include political ventriloquism, Europe in the middle, and more
-
The broken water companies failing England and WalesExplainer With rising bills, deteriorating river health and a lack of investment, regulators face an uphill battle to stabilise the industry
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
-
US to send 200 troops to Nigeria to train armySpeed Read Trump has accused the West African government of failing to protect Christians from terrorist attacks
-
Grand jury rejects charging 6 Democrats for ‘orders’ videoSpeed Read The jury refused to indict Democratic lawmakers for a video in which they urged military members to resist illegal orders
-
Trump links funding to name on Penn StationSpeed Read Trump “can restart the funding with a snap of his fingers,” a Schumer insider said
-
Trump reclassifies 50,000 federal jobs to ease firingsSpeed Read The rule strips longstanding job protections from federal workers
