Trump says SNAP was 'meant for people with real problems' after court orders to continue food aid

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance responded on Thursday, November 6, to a reporter's question about a federal judge's order requiring full funding of SNAP benefits for November amid a government shutdown.

Vance labeled the ruling "absurd," while President Trump emphasized his perspective on the expansion of the program. Following the order, the administration said it would appeal the Rhode Island federal judge's decision, which called for complete funding of food aid to 42 million Americans by Friday.

Trump cites soaring SNAP rolls, urges fiscal restraint

Speaking during a dinner with Central Asian leaders in the East Room of the White House, President Trump shifted the focus from logistical concerns of the shutdown to the overall scope and cost of the SNAP program, emphasizing the need for the country to maintain fiscal strength and liquidity. 

President Trump stated, "you know one of the things our country has to remain very liquid because problems, catastrophes, wars could be anything we have to remain liquid we can't give everything away based on a number."

He then addressed the growth of the program, noting that it had added many more beneficiaries during the past administration and asserting that the benefit was being distributed to more than the population initially targeted.

"Here's an example, when I was president, the number that you talked about was a tiny fraction of what it is now, Biden went totally crazy gave it to anybody that would ask gave it to people that were able-bodied had no problem anybody who would ask me to get the number and it's many times the number of people around this wasn't meant for that."

He explained the program's intended purpose: "It was meant for people that had real problems in many cases people that were down and out people that could be saved."

He concluded by contrasting the current enrollment with his first term: "take a look at the number what it was during my administration and what it was during the Biden administration, it went up many many times my first term."

JD Vance slams judge for 'absurd' SNAP funding order

Vice President Vance strongly criticized the judicial order issued during the government shutdown, arguing that the court was improperly interfering with the President's executive decisions during a crisis.

He said, "It's an absurd ruling because you have a federal judge effectively telling us what we have to do in the midst of a Democrat government shutdown, which what we'd like to do is for the democrats to open up the Government of course then we can fund snap and we can also do a lot of other good things for the American people but in the midst of a shutdown we can't have a federal court telling the president how he has to triage the situation."

Vance said the administration was doing its best to keep key services running, but he would not follow the judge's directives.

He added, "we're not going to do it under the orders of a federal judge or going to do it according to what we think we have to do to comply with the law of course but also to actually make the government work for people in the midst of the democratic government shutdown."

He then listed the adverse effects on the opposing party, including postponed air travel and SNAP benefits running out.

He called on Democrats to end the shutdown: "The American people are, unfortunately about the start, suffering some very real consequences because of the shutdown. You're going to start seeing snap benefits run out that's because the Democrat government shut down, they should stop this charade and open up the government that's what we want them to do, we've been asking to do it for 40 days, it's time."

Judge orders full SNAP funding amid shutdown clash

The response follows a ruling by US District Judge John J McConnell Jr in Rhode Island, who ordered the administration to secure the necessary funds to provide full SNAP benefits by Friday.

The order came after the administration’s plan to issue only reduced benefits was found not to comply with an earlier judicial directive.

Judge McConnell had previously ordered the government to immediately provide full or partial benefits to Americans, and he was critical of the administration’s partial funding proposal. He said it failed to address the delays, likely lasting several weeks or months, that states would face in implementing reduced benefits.

"The evidence shows that people will go hungry, food pantries will be overburdened, and needless suffering will occur, That’s what irreparable harm here means," he warned. He concluded with a statement: "This should never happen in America."