Trump administration will pay 50% of SNAP benefits as government shutdown continues.

 

A worker sorting fruit in a food bank in Massachusetts. Reuters.

The Trump administration will pay 50% of SNAP food benefits as the government shutdown continues. Reuters. After a federal court ruled that the Administration had to tap into emergency funds, they announced that there would be partial funding. There might be major delays in some states due to needing to update the system to pay out partial payments. The $5.25 billion contingency fund would not be enough to fund full benefits. Separately, Trump was able to secure $450 million in tariff funds for the WIC program that provides meals for women, infants and children, fully for three weeks. Some states have already said that they would raise their own funds to pay out the rest of the benefits. 

My Comment:

I've avoided talking about the government shutdown until this point as, outside of a few government jobs, it had little effect. Well, this is the first actual major effect of the government shutdown and it's one that will actually have an impact. 

But it wasn't as bad as it could be. Instead of having zero funds for SNAP, they will have 50%. This is not ideal but it's a lot better than nothing. Fully funding WIC for three weeks is a major win as well. It seems like the worst effects of shutting down SNAP will be avoided. Trump might get some small credit for this, or at the least, get less of the blame. 

Of course, I don't think that SNAP is that good in the first place. I am guessing the majority of people that are getting benefits are capable of work and absolutely should be working instead of taking government benefits. I don't have a problem with helping people that need it, like folks that able to work, are having a tough temporary issue, or simply have a ton of kids and need the help. But there are far too many people on SNAP that really don't deserve it. 

I do think that the Democrats deserve much of the blame here. Shutting down the government was always a baffling decision to me. Not only did they end up cutting funds to the very social programs they claim to support, they did it for healthcare for illegal aliens and insurance subsidies for folks that are already rich. And they did it after they lost an election in historic faction. 

I generally think this a cynical ploy on their part. They don't care how badly this could play for them if they do get the blame they deserve. Instead I think this has everything to do with the elections in Virginia and New Jersey. Both states were in play for Republicans and this is all about trying to blunt that momentum. It seems likely that Virginia is going to go to the Democrats now while New Jersey is a toss-up.

This isn't about helping the voters, it's about appeasing the activist base who are enraged that the Democrats don't seem to do anything. Given that the Republicans control the levers of power in the country, they had little option but to shut down the government. At least they can say that they are "doing something" for their activist base, even if what they are doing is really, really dumb. 

I do think that means that the government shutdown will likely die a quick death once the election is over, regardless of the results. They will drop their more insane demands and may instead demand some kind of essentially meaningless concession so, again, they can look like they are doing something. Will the Republicans play ball? I am guessing. They are, unfairly, getting some of the blame for the shutdown, mostly because they are the party in power. Either way, I'd be shocked if by the end of the week, next week at most, that this shutdown is still going down.