Trump ordered states rescind food benefits
Washington (dpa) — In the ongoing budget dispute in the United States, President Donald Trump’s administration has instructed states to reverse any full food assistance benefits paid out for November and instead pay only partial benefits.
The move, announced late on Saturday, was met with a torrent of disapproval from Democrats and advocates for the hungry.
“We will continue to fight against the Trump Administration’s efforts to take food away from Wisconsin’s kids, families, and seniors,” the state’s Democratic Governor Tony Evers wrote on X on Sunday.
Some 42 million people receive assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, chiefly families with children, single parents and older people, according to government figures.
The US Agriculture Department (USDA), in a memo, said “states must not transmit full benefit issuance” to the providers that help provide SNAP.
Trump ordered states rescind food benefits
It said if states had already sent full SNAP payments, “this was unauthorized” and they “must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November.”
USDA said failure to comply could result in the federal government cancelling its share of state costs as well as holding states liable for what it said would be overpayment of benefits.
The issue stems from the federal government shutdown, now the longest in the nation’s history at 40 days. SNAP is funded federally but administered by the states.
Earlier, a judge in Rhode Island had provisionally ordered the Trump administration to pay the benefits in full, even if emergency funds had to be used.
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