The money is there to fund food assistance for Americans through emergency funds, but, as Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom put it, “Cruelty is the policy” under the Trump administration. Roughly one in eight people in the US receive food stamps, but that program will end on Nov. 1 due to the GOP government shutdown. Republican voters in rural red areas will be hit hard. This will mark the first time payments have lapsed due to a government shutdown in the program’s 60-year history. Democrats are suing the Trump administration.
Reuters reports:
A coalition of Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, seeking to avert what would be a historic lapse in food aid for millions of Americans that is set to begin November 1 amid an ongoing government shutdown.
The lawsuit represents a critical challenge to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision not to use $6 billion in contingency funds to pay for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, which costs about $8 billion monthly.
At stake is whether more than 41 million low-income Americans will receive their November benefits, which would mark the first time payments have lapsed due to a government shutdown in the program’s 60-year history.
