Judge Questions Why SNAP Halt Isn't an Emergency

A federal judge signaled on Thursday that she is leaning toward requiring the Trump administration to use emergency reserves to partially fund food assistance for about 42 million Americans, as the government shutdown threatens to halt Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments starting Saturday. District Judge Indira Talwani, presiding over a lawsuit filed by 23 Democratic attorneys general and three governors, questioned the Agriculture Department's refusal to use the contingency fund, the Washington Post reports. "It is hard for me to understand how this is not an emergency," Talwani said. The judge said she might issue her ruling later Thursday, per the AP.

Talwani emphasized that her decision cannot wait for congressional action. The $5.5 billion in contingency funds falls short of SNAP's roughly $9 billion monthly cost, but would allow for partial payments in November. "If you don't have money, you tighten your belt," she told administration lawyers in her Boston courtroom. "You are not going to make everyone drop dead because it's a political game someplace." The Agriculture Department has argued that the reserve money is meant for natural disasters, not gaps in government funding.