Copyright Salt Lake Tribune
As Republicans seek ways to pressure Democrats to end the government shutdown, federal courts have helped ease one issue: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The Trump administration said Monday it plans to partially fund SNAP during November using $4.65 billion in contingency funds after a U.S. District Court ordered them to do so. It’s a change for the administration: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins insisted Friday that contingency funds could not flow to cover SNAP benefits since the underlying program was not yet funded by Congress, despite an earlier plan saying the opposite. Lawmakers have bickered for weeks over how the shutdown could compromise the program and leave millions of Americans without access to food starting Nov. 1. Republicans have accused Democrats of playing politics with hunger, while Democrats have insisted that President Donald Trump is legally obligated to tap the contingency fund. But with SNAP now at least partially funded, lawmakers told NOTUS they sense less urgency to immediately resolve the shutdown. “I think we all want to see SNAP funded, but I think we all also know there have been the lack of pain points causing the shutdown to go on further,” Republican Sen. John Curtis told NOTUS. “But personally, it’s not worth having the pain of the SNAP benefits just to end the shutdown. Let’s just end the shutdown.” Many senators expressed relief that more Americans will have access to SNAP, but several said that the funding removes a political pressure point that might have expedited the shutdown’s end. Republican Sen. Roger Marshall said he thought this week would be a “reflection point” and SNAP would have been “a big part of that.” He said several points had been pressuring Democrats: air traffic controllers not receiving their paychecks and funding for infant formula through the WIC program running out were two of them. SNAP funds running out would have been “the kicker.” “I think it’s going to be a two-week reprieve from that particular pressure point,” Marshall said of the SNAP funds running out. “But at the same time, I went to a food bank on Friday, and certainly, you could feel that we were almost there,” Marshall continued. “So I think we kind of flirted with this pressure point. I think that the folks that went back home are feeling the pressure point of the SNAP, and heaven forbid we don’t get it taken care of here in two weeks.” Marshall added later that he could “just feel the intensity there that this was maybe going to be in the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Asked if Democrats have more breathing room knowing the contingency fund will partially sustain SNAP, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said “yes” — with a caveat. “That’s only because of a court order,” Kaine told NOTUS. “Donald Trump had the authority to do it. Congress put that money in that account for this very reason, and he tried to use a slick trick to avoid paying food if it’s to hungry people, and that is wrong.” The SNAP issue is not entirely moot. Patrick Penn, deputy under secretary of food, nutrition and consumer services at the Agriculture Department, said in a court filing that using the contingency funds will only “cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments.” Even with the administration’s pledge, Penn warned that implementation of the partial funding could take “anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months” because states will need to recalculate benefit amounts for SNAP beneficiaries. That process, Penn explained, “could lead to payment errors and significant delays.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Jeff Merkley, along with dozens of Democratic cosponsors, introduced a resolution Monday that would demand the administration access additional SNAP funds. Both parties still message about SNAP after Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill to fund the program last week. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley also introduced legislation to fund SNAP that received some bipartisan support but did not get a vote on the Senate floor. “First and foremost, it shouldn’t have taken all this to just make sure we can feed hungry people in this country. So, like, it’s the right thing to do,” Democratic Sen. Andy Kim told NOTUS. “The administration should be finding additional funding to be able to make it whole. And so that’s where their focus should be.” “But the fact that it took federal judges to have to drag this president kicking and screaming to feed millions of Americans,” Kim continued, “like that just shows you how horrible a place we’re in right now.” Republicans blame Democrats instead. “I don’t want to see anybody in America be hungry,” Republican Sen. John Kennedy said. “Look, I voted 13 times to open it back up. Most of my Democratic colleagues have voted 13 times to keep it shut down. The quickest way to keep people from going hungry. Just open up the government.”
