WASHINGTON — Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Deputy Chair Ilhan Omar (MN-05) released the following statement regarding the Trump Administration’s unnecessary shutdown of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on November 1st:
“Starting this weekend, Donald Trump is taking food away from 42 million hungry Americans, including 1 in 5 kids. That’s outrageous. Donald Trump is choosing to shut down SNAP benefits instead of using the billions of dollars in contingency funds that are sitting at USDA, designed to be used to keep the program running in a moment like this.
“Trump invents fake legal justifications to bomb Caribbean boats and raise taxes on imported food. But now he pretends that the plain language of the law won’t let him use billions of dollars in contingency funds or transfer authorities to fully cover the cost of November SNAP benefits.
“Hungry seniors, kids, veterans, and workers whose pay isn’t enough to make ends meet will suffer because of Trump’s decision. But Trump is too busy taking in donations from billionaires and giant corporations to construct a $300 million White House ballroom.
“After passing one of the biggest SNAP cuts in history with the Big Ugly Betrayal, Trump and Congressional Republicans want to make this shutdown even more painful for working people. If your family loses the support you need to buy groceries, you should know: this is happening because Donald Trump wants it to. Republicans should immediately end this attack on SNAP and pass a bill to save health care and reopen the government.”
