Copyright cbsnews
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told CBS News on Tuesday that the Trump administration doesn't have the legal authority to keep food assistance flowing during the government shutdown, as the federal program that helps more than 40 million Americans pay for groceries is set to halt payments on Saturday. Rollins pushed back on calls to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, funded by tapping a $5 billion contingency fund, arguing the administration doesn't have the legal authority to use that money. She also noted that it would cost about $9.2 billion to fully fund SNAP next month. "We're trying to follow the law here," she told CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O'Keefe on "The Takeout." "We've used Band-Aid and duct tape all along this whole last month. And, and as we've said, it's not going to be there on November 1st." Pressed on why the administration hasn't sought money from other sources, given that it has kept paying members of the military and FBI personnel, Rollins noted that the money for military pay is partially coming from a private donor. The administration's position has drawn stiff pushback from Democrats, who have urged the Department of Agriculture to draw down its emergency contingency funding. Rollins responded by pressing Democrats to vote to reopen the government. "I find it extremely rich that people would say that President Trump or our administration is playing politics with people's hunger," Rollins said.
