WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Trump administration’s legal effort to fully fund food stamps for millions of vulnerable Americans is opening up an avenue for Democrats eager to take advantage. longest government shutdown in american history This is to portray the president as callous and insensitive.
“Donald Trump and his administration have made the decision to weaponize hunger and withhold SNAP benefits from millions of people, despite the fact that two lower courts, a district court and an appeals court, have made clear that SNAP benefits must be paid immediately,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on CNN on Saturday, calling the action “disgraceful.”
“Donald Trump is literally fighting in court to make sure Americans go hungry. He doesn’t care about you,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate. on X.
The comments were released after the Supreme Court late Friday. Approved the government’s emergency appeal The move is to temporarily block a court order requiring SNAP food assistance payments to be fully funded during the government shutdown. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program It serves approximately 1 in 8 Americans, most of whom are low-income.
The judge had ordered the government to make the payment by Friday. But the administration asked the appeals court to suspend the order requiring it to spend more money than is available in the emergency fund and instead bring forward the scheduled partial SNAP payments for the same month.
The legal dispute comes after the administration and Republicans endured a bitter battle on Election Day last week. Democrats won an overwhelming victory As signs emerge, ballots and voting measures are going up and down across the country. The economic hardship of voters is a top priority. This is a warning sign for the president and his party heading into next year’s higher stakes midterm elections.
In response, the White House plans to: Adjust your messaging strategy Focus on affordability and seek to win support from voters who: I’m worried about the high cost of living I have a plan to emphasize new tax cuts and show progress in the battle inflation.
But food stamp efforts could complicate matters.
Blame game and workarounds
The fallout extends beyond Washington, D.C., with both parties trying to blame the other for the shutdown. The crisis is growing at airports across the country.
Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center In a public opinion poll conducted in October, As the government shutdown extends into its third week, nearly 6 in 10 Americans say President Trump and Republicans in Congress bear “a great deal” or “a great deal” of responsibility for the shutdown, while 54% say the same about Congressional Democrats. At least three-quarters said both parties deserved at least a “moderate” amount of responsibility.
The White House did not respond to questions Saturday about the rationale for appealing the SNAP order to the Supreme Court or whether it was concerned about the angle of the fight against full payments.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins appeared on Fox News and again criticized Democrats for refusing to vote to reopen the government, insisting that the money needs to come from Congress.
“You can’t create money out of thin air,” she said. “You can’t just create money to fund programs that Congress has refused to fund.”
With hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed and without paychecks for more than a month, the president is doing everything he can to make sure the employees he supports are paid.
This includes later military personnel. President Trump directs Defense Department will use ‘all available funds’ to pay US military.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said her department has found a way to pay the salaries of U.S. Coast Guard and law enforcement officers within the department, including Border Patrol agents and immigration officials, with funds from the sweeping “Big Beautiful Bill” that President Trump signed this summer.
FBI Director Kash Patel also said that while FBI special agents are still being paid, other bureau employees are not. The government has not said where the money came from.
SNAP under attack
President Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism about SNAP, and he and the White House have offered conflicting messages about what will happen to the program during the shutdown.
President Trump announced in a social media post Tuesday that the government would not pay out SNAP benefits until the shutdown ends, suggesting that some people receiving benefits may not be truly in need.
But hours later, spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said the administration would use reserve funds “for emergencies, catastrophes, and wars” to pay for a portion of SNAP benefits.
But when asked Thursday about a judge ordering the administration to pay the full amount, the president directed Vice President J.D. Vance, who was sitting next to him, to answer.
Vance called the ruling “absurd” because “a federal judge is effectively telling us what we must do in the midst of a Democratic government shutdown.”
“In the middle of a government shutdown, you can’t have a federal court telling the president how he has to triage the situation,” he said.
President Trump added that he believes “this country has to remain very fluid because anything can happen – problems, catastrophes, wars. We have to remain fluid. We can’t give up everything.”
legal dispute
The government has been facing lawsuits from Democratic-leaning states, nonprofits and cities since shortly after announcing that SNAP benefits would not be available in November due to the government shutdown.
However, two judges ruled last week that the government cannot completely skip November’s payments, and ordered the government to continue paying them on a case-by-case basis. In either casethe judges ordered the government to use an emergency reserve fund containing more than $4.6 billion to make payments that would cost between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month.
After the government announced it would only cover 65% of the maximum monthly benefit, a judge ruled it was impossible to find and needed to find the money to fully fund the program in November.
The Department of Justice filed an emergency appeal. The government argued in a court filing Friday that the judge usurped both legislative and executive powers. After the high court refused to override Friday’s payment deadline, the Trump administration quickly filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.
In an order signed by liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the high court agreed to put the full payment order on hold until 48 hours after the appeals court rules on whether to grant a more permanent stay. Mr. Jackson has frequently dissented from a series of recent rulings favoring the administration and is the judge tasked with overseeing the Rhode Island appeals that started the case.
The legal battle has left millions of Americans dependent on food aid in limbo. Some states are reporting that they will receive their full November benefits, but others may wait until at least next week.
___ Colvin reported from New York and Whitehurst from Washington.
