Attorney General Kwame Raoul of Illinois responded after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s request to halt a lower court order that required the Trump administration to fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by Friday.
In his statement, Raoul criticized the federal government’s actions regarding SNAP benefits. “SNAP recipients should receive the benefits to which they are entitled. Full stop. It is reprehensible that the Trump administration continues to play politics with SNAP benefits knowing that children, older Americans, people with disabilities and families across the country will go hungry. It is unconscionable that the Trump administration would go so far as to seek U.S. Supreme Court intervention – on a Friday night – to prevent Americans from eating when funds are available to provide the much needed benefits. I am forcefully urging the federal government to follow the law and distribute SNAP benefits with all due haste to the tens of millions of people who depend on them. We are evaluating all legal options and refuse to sit idly when so many of our residents and neighbors are in need.”
The Supreme Court’s decision temporarily suspends a previous order requiring immediate funding for SNAP, affecting millions who rely on these food assistance benefits.
