Governor Newsom fights for Californians’ access to food benefits, unlawfully withheld by the Trump Administration; President Trump fights for an appeal on The Courts' decision

President Donald Trump just asked a federal court to issue an emergency stay of a judge’s ruling, ordering the administration to fully fund SNAP food benefits

By ONME Newswire

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with other states, today submitted an amicus brief in the First Circuit Court of Appeals to defend California families’ continued access to SNAP food benefits. This follows a win yesterday, where a court ordered the Trump administration to immediately issue 100% of funding for 5.5 million California SNAP recipients. After the decision, California SNAP recipients began to see money loaded onto their cards so that families could access food as soon as possible. The Trump administration immediately appealed, continuing its fight to block families from getting the food they need to survive. Today the state of California filed a brief in response to the Trump administration’s request to put yesterday’s court order on hold.

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“The Trump administration is literally fighting in court to block American families’ access to food. Trump is not fighting on your behalf.”

--Governor Gavin Newsom

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California, with more than 22 other states, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on October 28 over its unlawful refusal to fund SNAP/CalFresh benefits due to the nearly month-long federal government shutdown, despite possessing funds to support this critical program for the month of November. This caused 5.5 million Californians to temporarily lose critical access to $1.1 billion in food assistance for the month of November.

On October 31, two federal courts found the federal government is statutorily mandated to use previously appropriated SNAP contingency funds available to them during the government shutdown, where use of reserves is necessary to continue supporting this critical program protecting over 42 million Americans – including 5.5 million Californians – from going hungry. The courts also found that the USDA has $23 billion in Section 32 funds that it could use for SNAP.

Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island ruled that the administration must immediately restore full benefits to families, including the 5.5 million California recipients. The Trump administration is fighting to appeal this decision.