Democrats Criticize Administration for Holding Back SNAP Funds: 'A Disturbing Neglect of Responsibility

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Leading House Democrats sharply criticized the Trump administration on Friday evening, accusing it of cruelly and unlawfully withholding food assistance for millions of low-income individuals across the nation.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) condemned the administration’s actions, stating, “It is an appalling neglect of responsibility for the Trump administration to intentionally deny food to 42 million children, seniors, and veterans.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is in possession of over $5 billion in a contingency fund that Congress allocated for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during emergencies. However, the USDA has announced it will not utilize these funds to extend benefits if the government shutdown continues past October 31, according to various news outlets.

An internal memo, initially reported by Axios, explained the USDA’s stance: the contingency fund is intended for emergencies like natural disasters, and the current shutdown situation does not qualify because it was, according to the USDA, orchestrated by Democrats. Utilizing these funds for SNAP benefits under such circumstances, they argued, would be against the law.

“The contingency fund is reserved for unforeseen emergencies,” the memo states, “such as the Disaster SNAP program, which assists individuals in purchasing food in disaster-stricken areas, including those impacted by hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods that arise suddenly and without warning.”

The memo contradicts the shutdown plan posted by USDA earlier in the year, which stated that “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.