Despite Court Order, Administration Told Court It Will Not Fully Fund SNAP and that Partial Payments May  Not Be Available for Weeks or Months

Administration has Plunged More than 42 Million People’s Access to Essential Nutrition in Crisis

Washington, D.C. — A broad coalition of plaintiffs in Rhode Island State Council of Churches et al. v. Rollins et al., represented by Democracy Forward and the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island, filed an emergency request today in the District Court of Rhode Island asking the court to order the Trump-Vance Administration to comply with its order issued from the bench on Friday and memorialized in writing on Saturday — or grant additional relief — after the administration made submissions to the court noting that it could be weeks or months before beneficiaries may receive their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments.

The emergency motion filed with the court states, “Time is of the essence when it comes to hunger. Forty-two million people in this country who rely on the [SNAP] for basic nutritional needs—including children, senior citizens, and veterans—are now four days into November without any prospect of receiving their SNAP payments for weeks or even ‘several months,’ by Defendants’ own account, because of Defendants’ course of conduct. Because this Court’s order did not contemplate that millions would be deprived of basic nutritional assistance for weeks (let alone months)—and indeed made clear that Defendants had to ‘expeditiously’ ensure payments were to be received given the irreparable harm of being deprived of basic nutrition—Plaintiffs request that this Court act to enforce its temporary retraining order or, in the alternative, grant additional preliminary relief on the ground that the decision to deny full benefits is arbitrary and capricious.”

“The Trump-Vance administration continues to play politics with people’s lives through failing to ensure SNAP payments are expeditiously available. This is immoral and unlawful. The political posturing should stop now. The administration needs to fully fund SNAP benefits so people can eat, today,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “We should not need to go to court to force the administration to provide food all people are entitled to in this country, but here we are – back in court to demand that the administration acts consistent with the judge’s order.” 

Last Friday, October 31, the court ordered the Trump-Vance administration to either fully fund November SNAP benefits or ensure that any partial payments are issued immediately and provide a plan for disbursement of the remainder of funding, given the severe and irreparable harm caused when people go without food. Instead of doing so, the administration informed the court yesterday that it would only partially pay benefits — and that those partial benefits may take weeks or even months to go out — leaving millions of people in America without the nutrition they need and that the law requires.

Read the motion here and the original complaint here.

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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.