During the government shutdown, SNAP benefits were suspended because they were impacted by the funding contained in the disputed continuing resolution (CR).
Numerous blue states filed suit against the Trump administration to have them fully funded, even during the shutdown.
The administration was roasted for fighting the lawsuit, but Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins just dropped a bit of a bombshell about the program that completely justifies the battle.
When the calendar flipped to November, it meant that the more than 40 million Americans who rely on SNAP benefits were at risk of not having their accounts funded.
So, a massive coalition of blue states and the District of Columbia sought to ensure that benefits remained unchanged.
The suit claimed, "Shutting off SNAP benefits will cause deterioration of public health and well-being.”
It continued, “Ultimately, the States will bear costs associated with many of these harms. The loss of SNAP benefits leads to food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition, which are associated with numerous negative health outcomes in children, such as poor concentration, decreased cognitive function, fatigue, depression, and behavioral problems."
The Trump administration fought the lawsuit, and to be honest, I was surprised about that.
I thought for sure that Trump would use this as an easy out to go ahead and fund the program, but his administration took its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Solicitor General D John Sauer argued, “The only way to end this crisis -- which the executive is adamant to end -- is for Congress to reopen the government.”
The Supreme Court bought that argument, at least initially, as it allowed the full benefits payments to be halted until oral arguments could be heard.
Now that the shutdown is over, the government has dropped its appeal, but the fight itself is far from over.
The administration took a lot of heat over the halting of full benefits, with Democrats continuing to troll the administration on social media, accusing officials of essentially having starved children during the shutdown.
However, Rollins just claimed that there is massive fraud going on within the program, to the point that she wants people to have to reapply for benefits to ensure that everyone who is getting them actually qualifies.
She stated, “29 states, mostly the red states, responded with their data sets, February, March, April. … But here’s the most unbelievable news I have really, just over the last few days: That 5,000 dead people, that was just one month, the number is closer to 186,000 deceased men and women and children in this country are receiving a check.”
Rollins' statement continued, “Now, that is what we’re really going to start clamping down on. Half a million are getting two. But here’s the really stunning thing: This is just data from those 29 mostly red states. Can you imagine when we get our hands on the blue state data, what we’re going to find?”
I would say that is sufficient justification for holding out on the full benefits, and it is just one more area in which fraud and waste are unnecessarily costing the American people millions, if not billions, of dollars.
