On Thursday, Vice President Vance expressed strong opposition to a federal court’s decision mandating the Trump administration to provide full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November. Vance contended that the court should not dictate presidential spending decisions during a government shutdown.
“This ruling is absurd,” Vance stated during a roundtable with Central Asian leaders at the White House. “A federal judge is essentially instructing us on actions amidst a Democrat-induced government shutdown.”
Vance emphasized the administration’s desire for Democrats to reopen the government, which would allow not only funding for SNAP but also enable other beneficial initiatives for Americans. “During a shutdown, we cannot have a federal court dictate how the president must prioritize resources,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, U.S. District Judge John McConnell dismissed the administration’s plan to issue partial SNAP payments without accessing additional funds, ruling that it did not comply with his previous directive.
The Justice Department announced plans to appeal the decision, leaving millions of Americans who depend on SNAP benefits uncertain about their status.
The Trump administration had planned to halt SNAP payments for about 42 million Americans starting this month due to the ongoing government shutdown, which has now become the longest in U.S. history. This action prompted two lawsuits arguing that the benefits must continue uninterrupted.
Last week, McConnell ruled the administration, at minimum, was required to deplete a roughly $5 billion SNAP contingency fund. But it was not enough to fully fund November benefits, which are expected to cost upward of $9 billion.
The Trump administration has sought to shift around money to cover things like pay for members of the military and a nutritional program for women and infants. But it has indicated it will not be able to provide funding for SNAP, and the Department of Transportation has said it will reduce the number of flights at certain airports in light of air traffic controller shortages during the shutdown.
Vance said the White House would look to fund certain government operations amid the strain of the shutdown, but would do so “according to what we think we have to do to comply with the law, of course, but also to actually make the government work for people.”
