The clock began ticking this weekend for millions of government food aid recipients in New York and the nation, who could go hungry unless some good-hearted billionaire benefactor steps up to help feed the poor.
Because unless you’re a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, the chances of President Trump asking one of his filthy rich friends to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the long government shutdown are about as likely as the same needy recipients getting a dinner invitation to the new White House ballroom once it gets built.
In other words, not likely.
Which was why Gov. Hochul was forced to declare a state of emergency in the days before a freeze kicked in on SNAP, which is currently being held hostage by the monthlong shutdown.
The political food fight marks the first time in U.S. history that a federal administration has stopped making food assistance available during a government shutdown.
And the impasse comes just a few weeks before Thanksgiving.
“The Trump Administration is cutting food assistance off for 3 million New Yorkers, leaving our state to face an unprecedented public health crisis and hurting our grocers, bodegas and farmers along the way,” Hochul said in a statement. “Unlike Washington Republicans, I won’t sit idly by as families struggle to put food on the table.”
The state of emergency declaration allowed Hochul to free up $65 million in state aid to supplement the supplemental assistance, which was set to lapse on Saturday.
New York state receives nearly $650 million in federal funding for SNAP benefits each month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Oregon and Virginia have also issued similar declarations to release state cash for emergency food aid as the federal government shutdown imperils SNAP benefits for nearly 42 million low-income Americans across red and blue states who use the Electronic Benefit Transfer cards.
Twenty-one Democratic governors on Thursday sent a letter to Trump demanding that the USDA draw on contingency funds and other sources to fund November benefits.
“Halting SNAP benefits will put millions of Americans at risk of food insecurity and poverty,” the letter said. “SNAP is more than a food assistance program. It is a lifeline.”
On Friday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to keep funding SNAP during the shutdown. But the president said a delay was inevitable.
“It is already delayed enough due to the Democrats keeping the Government closed through the monthly payment date,” Trump wrote on social media “And, even if we get immediate guidance, it will unfortunately be delayed while states get the money out.”
Regardless of who you blame for the breakdown, the consequences are real. The shutdown has deprived air-traffic controllers, TSA agents and other federal workers of paychecks.
Members of the nation’s military have been forced to go without, too.
To pay the troops, the Pentagon reallocated billions of dollars from research and development programs to fund their salaries.
On top of that, a private donor friend of Trump, billionaire Timothy Mellon, contributed $130 million to help pay the troops, according to The New York Times.
As generous as that sounds, the donation was still just a drop in the bucket compared to the $6.5 billion needed for the Pentagon to fund Friday’s paychecks.
But it’s still way more than anyone has ponied up to help fund the SNAP program. Who’s stepping up to help them out?
Billionaires should be free to give their money to any worthy cause they choose. But the government leaders who solicit their donations shouldn’t pit the military against the marginalized for political purposes. If Trump can find a benefactor for the Pentagon, then certainly he can find a patron for the poor.
