The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Oct. 29 urged a court not to order it to utilize emergency funds for the federal food stamp program, known as SNAP.
Lawyers for the USDA said that forcing the government to fund the program without appropriations from Congress would go beyond the authority of the court.
At issue are two separate tranches, including an emergency fund containing approximately $5.25 billion. That’s less than the $9 billion required to fund SNAP in full for November.
“Even assuming USDA had discretion to reallocate these funds, the question of how to allocate limited funds among multiple crucial safety-net programs, when there are insufficient funds, is one that the agency is empowered to make—not a federal court, and certainly not plaintiffs,” the lawyers stated….