PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — More than 42 million Americans are expected to lose food assistance benefits starting Saturday due to the ongoing government shutdown. Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware have joined 22 other states in suing the Trump administration to try to secure funds for those benefits.
The lawsuit aims to force the administration to use billions in contingency funds to pay next month’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said SNAP is a lifeline for nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians, and he accused the Trump administration of using food aid as a political bargaining chip.
The lawsuit argues the USDA has money already approved by Congress that can be used to keep the benefits running. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the USDA cannot use those funds.
“We have said all along that that $5 billion in contingency, we don’t believe we have the legal authority to distribute that,” she said. “We’re trying to follow the law here. We’ve used Band-Aids and duct tape all along this whole last month. And as we’ve said, it’s not going to be there on Nov. 1. It’s time to open the government.”
It’s unclear if a decision will come from the lawsuit before the situation becomes dire for those who rely on the benefits. State officials say the long-term solution is a federal budget. To put pressure on Republican congressmen, they broke down the number of SNAP beneficiaries by House districts. It shows that more than half of Pennsylvania’s SNAP recipients — about 1.04 million people — live in Republican districts.
SNAP helps about 1 in 8 Americans buy groceries using debit cards normally loaded each month by the federal government. The halt in benefits marks the first nationwide suspension of SNAP since its creation in 1964. Shapiro said it could overwhelm Pennsylvania’s food banks.
In Pennsylvania, where a budget stalemate has held up more than $25 million in aid to food banks, Democratic lawmakers are pushing for $60 million in emergency aid for food banks and Meals on Wheels programs.
Tara Davis of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank said her staff has been preparing for an overwhelming wave of demand.
“They’re scared. They’re watching the shelves get lighter and they’re wondering what happens when nothing is left,” she said.
Trump officials argue the only way out of this situation is to reopen the government. On Tuesday, a Republican-backed House bill that would temporarily fund the government failed to win Senate approval for the 13th time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.