Lies and the lying liars
Millions of low-income Americans will needlessly lose access to food aid on November 1. At least 25 states are sending notices that aid will end.
Judd Legum’s Popular Information is blunt:
The official website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) claims that on November 1, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will run out of funding. The USDA asserts that Democrats are blocking funding to secure “health care for illegal immigrants” and funding for “gender mutilation procedures.”
All of these claims are false.
No surprise there. MAGA Republicans exist in an alternate reality of their own making.
The USDA maintains that its $6 billion reserve fund, enough to support the program for several more weeks, is “not legally available to cover regular benefits.“ The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities believes the statement is false:
This stands in opposition to the law and prior practice, including by the Trump Administration itself. Also, the Administration could use its legal transfer authority — the same authority it already used to provide additional funds to WIC — to supplement the contingency reserves, which alone are not enough to fund families’ full benefits for November.
Republicans know that. They’re lying.
CBPP provides a breakdown of the emergency funding options.
In addition, the department’s own guidance issued on September 30 concurs (emphasis added by Popular Information:
In addition, Congressional intent is evident that SNAP’s operations should continue since the program has been provided with multi-year contingency funds that can be used for State Administrative Expenses to ensure that the State can also continue operations during a Federal Government shutdown. These multi-year contingency funds are also available to fund participant benefits in the event that a lapse occurs in the middle of the fiscal year.
Popular Information notes, “This guidance has been removed from the USDA website now that the Trump administration has decided that withholding the funds is politically advantageous.”
Lawrence O’Donnell made the point on his show Tuesday night.
As for Democrats attempting to secure heath care funding for undocumented immigrants, that is false. Such immigrants are “already barred from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, exchanges.”
Republicans know that. They’re lying.
The shutdown also has nothing to do with “gender mutilation procedures,” which is apparently how the Trump administration describes health care for trans people. Nothing in the Republican continuing resolution limits trans health care, and the Democrats are not seeking to expand or protect it in their counter-proposals.
Republicans know that. They’re lying.
Roughly one American in eight (42 million) relies on supplemental nutrition assistance.
Nearly two dozen states are suing the Trump administration to maintain funding for SNAP during the government shutdown (The New Republic):
“Let’s be clear about what’s happening: For the first time ever, SNAP benefits will not be available to the millions of low-income individuals who depend on them to put food on the table,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, one of four attorneys general co-leading the lawsuit. “With the holidays around the corner, we are seeing costs for groceries continue to increase and food banks facing unprecedented demand. We are taking a stand because families will experience hunger and malnutrition if the Trump Administration gets its way.”
Food banks will scramble to meet a need that they will not be able to fill (CBS News):
“The charitable food system and food banks don’t have the resources to replace all those food dollars,” John Sayles, CEO of Vermont Foodbank in Barre, Vermont, told CBS News.
Already, food banks are getting an influx of calls from SNAP recipients who are worried about the payment freeze, and food shelves could see long lines next month if the shutdown persists, Sayles said.
“There is no safety net after SNAP other than the food shelf,” he added.
Popular Information again:
After the pandemic, inflation has pushed food prices up, making it more difficult to feed families as wages struggle to keep up. As a result, millions more people have been relying on food banks, which served more than 50 million people in 2023, compared to 40 million in 2019.
Now, ramped-up work requirements for SNAP passed under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are also pushing people out of the program and increasing reliance on food banks. This comes at the same time that those food banks have lost some of their federal funding. Earlier this year, the USDA cut a program that provided over $400 million to help food banks purchase food.
How about those scary thoughts for Halloween? Is there a MAGA costume on the market?
Update: Forgot to drop in the graphic above.
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