In a recent article from The Hill entitled Vance calls court order to fully fund SNAP 'absurd ruling' Vance stated, “It’s an absurd ruling because you have a federal judge effectively telling us what we have to do in the middle of a Democrat government shutdown." He seems to have forgotten the Constitution lays out the guidelines for three co-equal branches of government. This gives the courts the right to instruct the Executive branch when their actions do not conform to the Constitution, and the laws passed by Congress.
The constitution is very clear in the checks and balances that are incorporated into the Constitution for this exact reason. Yes, absolutely the Judicial branch, a.k.a. a judge has every right to instruct the Executive branch what they need to do in the middle of a government shutdown, or anytime, when the Executive branch is not taking the correct or legal action. The courts ruled that the Trump administration needed to fund SNAP.
In an attempt to get around the initial judicial ruling, the Trump administration suggested two different things:
- They would not release the SNAP funds until "the Democrats reopen the government".
- They would only make partial payments as the contingency fund did not have sufficient funding to cover all SNAP payments.
Their first statement, was very quickly withdrawn, and instead they focused on the second version trying to ensure that the Americans the Trump administration sees as worthless starve. I do not make this statement lightly, The Trump administration actions speak for themselves. Read what the Trump administration has done with:
- Medicaid
- CHIP
- Social Security Disability Benefits
- ACA Subsidies
- Shuttering USAID
- Foreign aid to the poor and starving
The order that Vance is railing against? Ensuring that 42 million people don't go hungry this month. The judge determined that the administration, at a minimum, was required to deplete the roughly $5 billion SNAP contingency fund, and to find the funds to fully fund SNAP benefits for November. The amended court order was in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65% of the maximum benefit, a decision that would have left some recipients getting nothing for this month, according to Politico.
Should anyone be surprised by this? Instead of ensuring the safety and security of all citizens of the United States, the Trump administration is using the people as fodder in their war against Democracy, trying to force the opposition to fold under their unrelenting attacks on the nation's most vulnerable.
This is why it is so important for the Democrats to stick to their guns, and keep the government closed until either the Republicans use the nuclear option to reopen the government, or they agree to negotiate ACA subsidies funding for a minimum of two years.
