Harv's Corner 11/17/2025

Harv's Corner

Is everyone OK with this???  
I'm not!
What kind of government do we have?  What kind of ruthless person would do this?  Is this truly what America is about?
I hope not!
As of  this release, the government is back online and SNAP benefits are being restored.
THE POINT REMAINS!

States told to stop full SNAP payments
​USDA threatens consequences if they don’t comply, including loss of federal funding.
By MARIANA ALFARO The Washington Post

​The Trump administration over the weekend ordered states to stop distributing full food assistance benefits for November to the 42 million low-income Americans at risk of food insecurity.

A memo from the Agriculture Department's Food and Nutrition Service tells states to "immediately undo any steps taken to issue" full payments to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often called food stamps.

Instead, the White House is demanding that states issue only partial payments of about 65% of a usual SNAP benefit.

The memo USDA issued late Saturday warns states that if they do not comply with the order, they will face consequences, including the cancellation of federal funding that states need to cover some administrative expenses.

The federal government pays for all SNAP benefits, but states administer the program to residents.

SNAP is a vital lifeline for millions of people — mostly children, the elderly and adults with disabilities — who rely on it to afford groceries. The funding holdup caused by the government shutdown has left families across the country in agonized uncertainty as they stretch budgets while waiting for aid.

On Thursday, a Rhode Island judge directed the Trump administration to release November SNAP benefits in full by Friday.

At first, the Trump administration said it was working to release the benefits to comply with the judge's order — suggesting that the money would indeed be disbursed. At the same time, the administration appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.

Late Friday, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily blocked the Rhode Island judge's order to allow time for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit to issue its ruling on the lower court's order.

Some states, like Wisconsin and Maryland, had begun disbursing benefits Friday, after the Rhode Island ruling, leaving them scrambling to respond over the weekend.

In Wisconsin — where nearly 700,000 residents received their SNAP payments on Friday — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said his state has "legally loaded benefits to cards."

"After we did so, the Trump Administration assured Wisconsin and other states that they were actively working to implement full SNAP benefits for November and would 'complete the processes necessary to make funds available.' They have failed to do so to date," Evers said in a statement Sunday.

Evers, along with several other governors and state attorneys general, are asking the appellate court to reject the administration's effort.

Soon after that letter was filed, USDA sent the states the latest memo ordering them to stop the disbursement of full SNAP payments.

"Our administration is actively in court fighting against the Trump Administration's efforts to yank food assistance away from Wisconsin's kids, families, and seniors, and we are eager for the court to resolve this issue by directing the Trump Administration to comply with court orders," Evers' statement said.

Carl Tobias, the Williams Chair in Law at the University of Richmond's law school, said it would not be "lawful" for USDA to claw back benefits that it had earlier provided without granting due process.

But Tobias acknowledged that the USDA memo could have a chilling effect on states' efforts to continue providing benefits to people in November.

In his Thursday order, the Rhode Island judge, John J. McConnell Jr., admonished the Trump administration for opting to make only partial SNAP payments, saying the administration knew this would only further delay getting aid to people. He ordered the administration to tap into a $23 billion fund for school lunch and child nutrition programs to pay for full SNAP benefits in November.

USDA, however, has repeatedly refused to tap into that money, arguing that it is separate from SNAP, and that the government does not have funds because of "congressional failure" to appropriate new money.

In court papers, the administration said it would not "raid an entirely different program" because it could lead to a shortfall in funding school meals.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, said in a statement Sunday that residents who have already received SNAP money on their cards "should continue to spend it on food." Those funds, she said, were following guidelines the administration issued after the Rhode Island court decision and before the Supreme Court order.

"If President Trump wants to penalize states for preventing Americans from going hungry, we will see him in court," Healey said.

The administration is "very carefully studying the law and trying to get as much money out the door as is legal," Kevin Hassett, Trump's longest-serving economic adviser, told CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

"We are very glad that we found a way to get a lot of the SNAP money out, but it's really, really pushing the boundaries of the law, which is why the Supreme Court had to take that ruling from Rhode Island and put it on hold," Hassett said.
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"The president's job, and all of our jobs, is to uphold the law."