Trump, states back in court over SNAP as benefits remain in legal limbo

By Fox News · Fox News

Lawyers for roughly two dozen states will head to court Monday to block the Trump administration's attempt to penalize them for making full payments to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. The filing is the latest in a chaotic, fast-moving legal saga centered on the status of the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, which supports 42 million low-income Americans and remains stalled as a result of the ongoing government shutdown. " Food assistance is not a political issue," New York Attorney General Letitia James told reporters Monday. "It is a moral imperative, and no one should go hungry because their own government is refusing to feed them. " The request for emergency intervention comes after the Trump administration on Saturday threatened to slap states who paid out the full SNAP benefits with steep economic penalties, despite an order from U.S. District Judge John McConnell, who ordered the administration to make the full SNAP payments fully available compared to just 65%, as had been previously outlined. TWO JUDGES RULE TRUMP ADMIN MUST KEEP SNAP BENEFITS IN PLACE AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON Trump officials further urged the Supreme Court in a supplemental brief Monday afternoon to keep in place an emergency stay handed down by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson last week. They cited the progress Congress has made towards resolving the ongoing shutdown, and added that, in their view, "the answer to this crisis is not for federal courts to reallocate resources without lawful authority." "The only way to end this crisis — which the Executive is adamant to end — is for Congress to reopen the government," they added. States have until tomorrow morning to file their response to the Supreme Court. The judge had scolded the Trump administration for agreeing to fund just 65% of the SNAP benefits. "It’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here," McConnell said Thursday shortly before issuing the new order, which gave the USDA less than 24 hour…