Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday said Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contingency funds are not “legally available” to cover benefits during the shutdown.
At a press conference, Johnson cited a legal analysis from the Trump administration that argued the emergency funds cannot be used to cover the lapse in funding next month, since the funds are “finite” and must previously have been appropriated for use.
“I got a summary of the whole legal analysis, and it certainly looks legitimate to me,” Johnson told a reporter, when asked whether the administration should tap into the billions of dollars in reserve, earmarked by Congress to fund SNAP in emergencies.
“The contingency funds are not legally available to cover the benefits right now,” he continued. “The reason is because it’s a finite source of funds. It was appropriated by Congress, and if they transfer funds from these other sources, it pulls it away immediately from school meals and infant formula. So there— it’s a tradeoff.”
The Speaker added: “There has to be a preexisting appropriation for the contingency fund to be used, and Democrats blocked that appropriation when they rejected the clean continuing resolution.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is sitting on more than $5 billion in a contingency fund earmarked by Congress to fund SNAP in emergencies. But the department says it won’t use those funds to cover benefits if the government shutdown extends beyond Oct. 31 — a move that appears designed to maximize the pressure on Senate Democrats to support a GOP spending bill to reopen the government.
The USDA said the contingency fund was designed to respond to unforeseen events, like natural disasters, and the current shutdown doesn’t qualify because it was manufactured by Democrats, according to a memo. To spend the money on SNAP benefits during such an event, the USDA argued, would be illegal.
The memo contradicts the since-deleted shutdown plan prepared by USDA earlier in the year, saying the department is legally obligated to pay SNAP benefits in the event of a shutdown.
Democrats have blasted the move. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called it “a disgusting dereliction of duty that the Trump administration would knowingly rip food out of the mouths of 42 million children, seniors and veterans.”
But Johnson, on Monday, sought to pin blame on Democrats, saying SNAP could be funded if Democrats agree to the GOP proposal to reopen the government.
“So the way to make this stop immediately is for, we just need a handful. We need five more Democrats in the Senate to do the right thing. Wake up and say, ‘I’m going to say no to the Marxist far left pressure, and I’m going to do what’s right by the people, the 42 million Americans in this country who rely upon this essential nutrition assistance,’” Johnson said at his press conference.
