Copyright scmp
US President Donald Trump further muddied the fate of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme with a social media post on Tuesday suggesting he would not provide benefits until after the government reopened. The aid, which reaches 42 million Americans, “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before”, Trump posted. For the past two days, the administration has said in public statements and court filings that it will at least partially fund the programme this month after being ordered to do so by a federal judge. Trump’s post did not explicitly say he was reversing that position, but a White House official refused to clarify the matter, referring back to the president’s social media post. Officials for the Office of Management and Budget and the Agriculture Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The president’s comments came a day after the Justice Department said in a court filing the administration was working “diligently” to comply with a ruling last week from a Rhode Island judge requiring officials to at least partially fund the programme. The Agriculture Department, the filing said, planned to “deplete” US$4.65 billion in contingency money and provide recipients with 50 per cent of the amount eligible households normally receive in November. It also warned that recalculating benefits would be time-consuming. The president’s comments came after non-profit groups and cities asked the judge in Rhode Island to compel the administration to fully cover food aid benefits, rather than simply spend the remaining contingency funds. Fully funding the Snap programme for November would take between US$8 billion and US$9 billion. Trump’s opponents on Capitol Hill sounded alarm that the White House could be signalling plans to defy the court outright. “Even for Trump, this is an outrageous step forward in terms of illegal behaviour,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. The federal funding lapse is on the verge of becoming the longest in American history, with Republicans unable to garner enough bipartisan support to pass a temporary funding measure. The Republican Party controls both chambers of Congress but needs support from several Democrats to clear procedural hurdles in the Senate to pass a spending measure. Democratic leadership has pushed for a deal that includes extending health insurance subsidies that are poised to expire. Some Republicans have expressed frustration with the court rulings reinstating benefits, arguing it removes pressure from Democrats to pass legislation to reopen the government. More than 42 million people in 22 million households nationwide receive Snap benefits, according to government data.
