Millions face food shortages even after judges halt Trump's SNAP freeze as shutdown drags on
Federal judges stopped the SNAP freeze as the shutdown continues, but millions of Americans are still facing food aid disrutption.
As the current government shutdown slowly reaches a record number of days, millions of Americans are facing food aid disruption and a dramatic rise in their health insurance bills.
Federal judges stopped the Trump administration's plans to freeze Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments on Saturday, but the delay in payouts is still likely to leave millions short on their grocery bills.
It is just another added strain to the country as federal workers have gone an entire month without pay, and travelers have been hit with growing air travel delays. At the time of writing, the shutdown is the second-longest in U.S. history, and there appears to be no end in sight.
The House hasn't met for legislative business in more than six weeks, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune closed his chamber for the weekend after talks failed to achieve any progress.
Thune said he hopes "the pressure starts to intensify, and the consequences of keeping the government shut down become even more real for everybody that they will express, hopefully, new interest in trying to come up with a path forward."
Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sports and entertainment stories.
The stalemate was only ignited when President Donald Trump demanded action and Democratic leaders warned that rising health insurance costs would force Congress to act. "This weekend, Americans face a health care crisis unprecedented in modern times," said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
SNAP delays
The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold SNAP payments on Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to make them. Trump said he would provide the money, but wanted more legal direction from the court, which won't happen until Monday.
Benefits were already delayed because it takes a week or more to load SNAP cards in many states. "People are just scared," said Jill Corbin, the director of the St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen and food pantry in Norwich, Connecticut. "It’s not really a definite answer that we have right now."
The organization added ten extra volunteers to help newcomers with the process as people lined up for hot meals and groceries on Saturday. On Wednesday, about 400 families visited the food pantry, and 555 people received hot meals. "It’s kind of like everything is unraveling at the same time," said Corbin. "I'm not going to lie. It is challenging."
About one in eight Americans receives SNAP benefits, and the program costs about $8 billion each month. The judges agreed that the USDA needed to at least use a contingency fund of about $5 billion to keep the program running. However, that has left some uncertainty about whether the department would use additional money or provide partial benefits for the month.
"The Trump administration needs to follow the law and fix this problem immediately by working closely with states to get nutritional assistance to the millions who rely on it as soon as possible," said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a statement about the ruling.
This week, Democrats demanded that the government fund SNAP, but Republicans argued that the program is in its current state because Democrats repeatedly voted against a short-term government funding bill.
"We are now reaching a breaking point thanks to Democrats voting no on government funding, now 14 different times," said House Speaker Mike Johnson at a news conference on Friday. The president inserted himself in the debate on Thursday, suggesting that Republican senators end the shutdown by getting rid of filibuster rules that prevent most legislation from advancing unless it has the support of at least 60 senators.
Democrats have used the filibuster to block a funding bill in the Senate for several weeks. Republican leaders rejected Trump's idea, but the discussion only shows how desperate the fight has become.