Attorney General Charity Clark says the Trump administration’s demand over the weekend that states “undo” the disbursement of federal food aid benefits doesn’t affect Vermont.
Several states took steps to send out full Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits last week after court orders directed the U.S Department of Agriculture to use emergency reserves to support the program during the government shutdown.
As the Trump administration continues to challenge those rulings, the USDA issued a memo over the weekend demanding states “undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits” for November.
Clark said in an interview Monday that the USDA’s demand was aimed at states that disbursed federal money last week – but Vermont opted weeks ago to use its own money to backfill SNAP benefits.
That state money was deposited in recipients’ accounts on Friday, according to a press release from the Vermont Department for Children and Families.
But Clark said she’s concerned about another part of the USDA memo that indicates states could face financial penalties if any “mistakes” were made around disbursement of benefits.
“We are worried about that because we've had, we've seen a history of the Trump administration sort of making stuff up, using a vague term, and then saying, ‘Oh you did this thing, and now we're not giving you money,’” Clark said.
A panel of Vermont lawmakers and Gov. Phil Scott decided in late October that the state would pay $6.3 million to fund SNAP benefits for the first two weeks of November. That group is set to meet again on Thursday – though their work could be unnecessary if the current deal in Washington to end the government shutdown goes through.
Vermont is part of a coalition of states that sued the Trump administration over its decision to freeze SNAP funding during the shutdown, which has stretched on for six weeks.
“I just want to acknowledge it's like a total rat’s nest,” Clark said. “I can't even believe we've gotten to this level of dysfunction where the Trump administration is failing to ensure that people don't go hungry in this country.”
There’s also a separate legal challenge to the SNAP funding freeze that cities and nonprofits filed in Rhode Island.
