DOJ accuses federal judge of making ‘mockery of the separation of powers’ in SNAP appeal

The Trump administration on Friday solicited a federal appeals court to block for now a lower court's decision that would require it to fully fund the nation's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan SNAP food aid effort by the end of the day Lawyers for the Justice Department solicited the First Circuit Court of Appeals to temporarily stay an injunction handed down one day earlier by a federal judge in Rhode Island The appeal is the latest in an ongoing court fight over the food aid campaign that funds million low-income Americans U S District Judge John McConnell ordered the U S Department of Agriculture on Thursday to allocate billion in alternative contingency funds as needed to fully fund the SNAP campaign through November noting the urgency of the food aid and the need for distribution The judge also scolded the Trump administration for agreeing to fund just of the SNAP benefits It s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here McConnell reported Thursday shortly before issuing the new order which gave the USDA less than hours to comply FEDERAL JUDGE RULES TRUMP MUST FULLY FUND SNAP PLAN BY FRIDAYIn their filing Friday to the First Circuit Court of Appeals Trump's legal gang argued that the lower court order makes a mockery of the separation of powers and accused McConnell of overstepping his powers as a federal judge There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find billion in the metaphorical couch cushions DOJ lawyers argued describing his order as an unprecedented injunction and one that makes a mockery of the separation of powers TWO JUDGES RULE TRUMP ADMIN MUST KEEP SNAP BENEFITS IN PLACE AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON This is a dilemma to be sure but it is a emergency occasioned by congressional failure and that can only be solved by congressional action they added McConnell on Thursday also stated the Trump administration had failed to comply with his original order last week which required USDA to fund the SNAP benefits before its funds were slated to lapse on Nov the first time ever in the program's -year history The executive did nothing to ensure that the money would be paid on Wednesday he noted The judge also explained Trump functionaries failed to address a known funding distribution dilemma that could cause SNAP payments to be delayed for weeks or months in various states