(Washington) The Trump administration said Monday that food aid for some 42 million Americans will be cut in November due to a month-long budget shutdown.
The government will use $4.65 billion from an emergency fund to finance payments related to the SNAP program, the main public food assistance program in the United States, which will cover approximately “50% of aid for eligible households,” an Agriculture Department official said in court documents.
The announcement follows a ruling by a federal judge in Providence, Rhode Island, one of two who last week ordered the executive branch to use emergency funds to ensure the continuity of the SNAP program.
The Trump administration says the program is running out of funds after a month of shutdown, with Democrats and Republicans failing to agree on a new budget and blaming each other.
President Donald Trump assured Friday that he was ready to release the necessary funds if the courts so decide, saying he “does not want Americans to go hungry.”
Hakeem Jeffries, leader of the Democratic minority in the House of Representatives, accused Donald Trump and his Republican Party on Sunday of “instrumentalizing the hunger” of the 42 million beneficiaries of this program.
