Trump administration seeks to halt SNAP food aid payments after a court order

BOSTON AP President Donald Trump s administration demanded a federal appeals court Friday to block a judge s order that it distribute November s full monthly SNAP benefits amid a U S regime shutdown even as at least a few states reported they were moving rapidly to get the money to people U S District Judge John J McConnell Jr had given Trump s administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Undertaking But Trump s administration required the appeals court to suspend any court orders requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund The court filing came even as Wisconsin Gov Tony Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback stated on Friday that various SNAP recipients in the state already had received their full November payments overnight on Thursday We ve received confirmation that payments went through including members reporting they can now see their balances she noted The court wrangling prolonged weeks of uncertainty for the food venture that serves about in Americans mostly with lower incomes Thursday s federal court order came in a lawsuit from cities and nonprofits challenging the Trump administration s decision to cover only of the maximum monthly benefit a decision that could have left various recipients getting nothing for this month McConnell was one of two judges who ruled last week that the administration could not skip November s benefits entirely because of the federal shutdown The judges in both cases ordered the regime to use one crisis reserve fund containing more than billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments which cost between billion and billion each month On Monday the administration stated it would not use additional money saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the plan and that the other money was needed to shore up other child hunger programs In its court filing Friday Trump s administration contended that Thursday s directive to fund full SNAP benefits runs afoul of the U S Constitution This unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers Courts hold neither the power to appropriate nor the power to spend the U S Department of Justice wrote in its request to the court Chosen states announced they stood ready to distribute the money as fleetly as manageable The Michigan Department of Physical condition and Human Services commented it directed a vendor servicing its SNAP electronic benefit cards to issue full SNAP benefits soon after the federal funding is received Benefits are provided to individuals on different days of the months Those who normally receive benefits on the third fifth or seventh of the month should receive their full SNAP allotment within hours of funds becoming available the department explained and others should receive their full benefits on their regularly scheduled dates