Late Friday, leading Democrats in the House criticized the Trump administration for its decision to withhold essential food aid from millions of low-income Americans. They described this move as both heartless and against the law.

“It’s appalling neglect that the Trump administration would deliberately prevent 42 million children, seniors, and veterans from accessing food,” expressed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in a statement.

The controversy revolves around the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has a contingency fund exceeding $5 billion, allocated by Congress to support the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during emergencies. However, according to several news sources, the USDA has declared that it will not utilize these funds to cover benefits if the government shutdown persists beyond October 31.

In a memo initially reported by Axios, the USDA explained its stance, stating that the contingency fund is intended for genuine emergencies, such as natural disasters. The department argued that the current shutdown does not meet this criterion because it was instigated by Democrats, and using the funds during such a situation would be unlawful.

The memo elaborates, “[T]he contingency fund is a source of funds for contingencies, such as the Disaster SNAP program, which provides food purchasing benefits for individuals in disaster areas, including natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, that can come on quickly and without notice.”

However, this position seems to contradict an earlier shutdown plan released by the USDA. That plan indicated, “Congressional intent is evident that SNAP’s operation should continue since the program has been provided with multi-year contingency funds that can be used for State Administrative Expenses to ensure that the State can also continue operations during a Federal Government shutdown.”

The plan has since been deleted. 

The new policy also stipulates that the USDA will not reimburse states that seek to fill the void with their own funding for food aid during the shutdown. 

“There is no provision or allowance under current law for States to cover the cost of benefits and be reimbursed,” the memo says. 

The reimbursement policy is not controversial. Democrats say any state funding directed to direct benefits would be supplemental to SNAP but not considered formal benefits. 

The refusal to tap the contingency fund to pay benefits, however, is another story. And SNAP supporters — advocate groups and Democrats, alike — have argued for weeks that any effort by the administration to withhold contingency funds would be illegal. 

Those accusations only escalated Friday night after the news of the USDA memo surfaced. 

In a joint statement, Reps. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, and Angie Craig (Minn.), the ranking member of the Agriculture Committee, said the policy is not only a violation of the law, but a “cruel” attack on poor Americans.

“This is perhaps the most cruel and unlawful offense the Trump administration has perpetrated yet — freezing funding already enacted into law to feed hungry Americans while he shovels tens of billions of dollars out the door to Argentina and into his ballroom,” the pair said in a statement.