The Agriculture Department told US District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island that it would partially fund SNAP benefits.
However, it won’t happen immediately.
McConnell gave the Trump administration until today to respond to his ruling that the USDA could use contingency funds for SNAP during the shutdown.
“The attached declaration explains that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is complying with the Court’s order and will fulfill its obligation to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds today by generating the table required for States to calculate the benefits available for each eligible household in that State,” according to the file.
The total amounts to $4.65 billion from the contingency fund.
In the attached declaration, Patrick Penn, the Deputy Under Secretary of the Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (FNCS), said it won’t pull funds from other sources to pay for November.
Also, making the changes to fund SNAP, “the system changes States must implement to provide the reduced benefit amounts will take anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months.”
Each state differs in how it receives SNAP benefits.
Some states have systems that are “decades old,” leading to those delays.
Earlier today I wrote about Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins exposing the corruption within SNAP.
I wonder if requiring states to update their systems will be one of the reforms Rollins will instill.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY