Trump Administration Back at SCOTUS, Trying to Keep SNAP Payments Frozen

President Trump's administration returned to the Supreme Court on Monday in a push to keep full payments in the SNAP federal food aid program frozen while the government is shut down, even as some families struggled to put food on the table, the AP reports. The request is the latest in a flurry of legal activity over how the program that helps 42 million Americans buy groceries should proceed during the historic US government shutdown. Lower courts have ruled that the government must keep full payments flowing, but the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to keep them frozen for now. The high court is expected to rule Tuesday.

The Trump administration argued that lower court orders requiring the full funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program wrongly affect ongoing negotiations in Congress about ending the shutdown. Supreme Court Solicitor General D. John Sauer called the funding lapse tragic, but said judges shouldn't be deciding how to handle it. The seesawing rulings so far have created a situation where beneficiaries in some states, including Hawaii and New Jersey, have received their full monthly allocations (a move Trump quickly ordered governors to "undo") and those in others, such as Nebraska and West Virginia, have seen nothing. The Senate Monday passed a compromise funding package that would end the government shutdown and refill SNAP funds. It now goes to the House for consideration.

Brandi Johnson, 48, of St. Louis, said she's struggling to make the $20 she has left in her SNAP account stretch. Johnson said she has been skipping meals the past two weeks to make sure her three teenage children have something to eat. She is also helping care for her infant granddaughter, who has food allergies, and her 80-year-old mother. She said food pantries have offered little help in recent days. Many require patrons to live in a certain ZIP code or are dedicated to helping the elderly first. New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said Trump was fighting "for the right to starve Americans." "It's the most heinous thing I've ever seen in public life," he said.