Once again, federal judges are proving they can do just about anything they darn well please when “interpreting” the law.
Judge John James McConnell Jr. served 14 years as treasurer of the Rhode Island Democratic State Committee. He and his wife were major donors to Democratic political candidates. He’s also skilled at amateur theatrics.
“There is no doubt and it is beyond argument that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn’t already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food, for their family,” McConnell said from the bench, according to NBC.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani was also active in Democratic politics in Massachusetts before Barack Obama named her a federal judge. Obama appointed McConnell as well. It’s not surprising, then, that both jurists have a shocking disregard for the separation of powers. Talwani unilaterally declared “unconstitutional” the refusal of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use “contingency funds” that Congress appropriated in the SNAP program.
“Talwani ruled that the government is required by law to tap into the emergency money to make at least partial payments,” reports CBS News. That is an extremely expansive interpretation of the law as it is written. The USDA, as a federal agency reporting to the chief executive, has wide discretionary authority over how to use funds such as the contingency fund. A federal judge telling the administration how it must use the funds smacks of judicial overreach.
There’s a good chance that any appeals court will strike down her reasoning. But by then, the damage will be done. Democrats will point to the court order as the reason people are going hungry, and blame the administration for people’s suffering.
Realizing this, Trump has promised to open the spigot of federal food aid just as soon as the courts tell him how.
For now, these families can continue putting food on their tables, and thousands of nonprofit food banks, pantries and other organizations across the country can avoid the impossible burden that would have resulted if SNAP benefits had been halted,” Diane Yentel, president of the National Council of Nonprofits, which joined the suit, said in an emailed statement.
State of play: McConnell’s ruling came down the same day that Massachusetts District Judge Indira Talwani ordered the administration to provide “at least reduced SNAP benefits for November” and to report back with its plan no later than Monday.
In that case, 25 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C. had sued the Trump administration to force it to resume food stamp payments amid the ongoing government shutdown. Both lawsuits alleged the Trump administration is withholding up to $6 billion in emergency funds to sustain SNAP benefits.
The administration claims that the USDA needs that contingency fund in emergencies. Side note: It’s hurricane season.
Meanwhile, people who may not have food benefits in a few days are outraged.
“It is the taxpayer’s responsibility to take care of my kids,” one emotional mother said in a video posted online. “It is the taxpayer’s job to pay for my kids to eat and for my kids to be taken care of.”
Sounds to me as if this woman is the one doing the “terrorizing” that Judge McConnell was so worried about. She threatened to “block anyone who viewed her videos” on TikTok “without sending cash.”
Another beneficiary of taxpayer munificence wondered how she was going to feed her seven children.
Fox News contributor Brett Cooper was unsympathetic. She called the comments “insane” before saying, “That is [her] responsibility… It is not [the] American taxpayers fault that you have seven baby daddies who will not step up and help you pay the grocery bills.”
That’s probably true. But neither is it the fault of seven kids who don’t understand what the argument is about. They only know that their bellies are empty.
A majority of SNAP recipients only need temporary help. Seasonal workers such as fishermen and some teachers need food benefits to see them through. This is exactly what the program was designed for in the 1960s. Democrats vastly expanded eligibility and benefits, leading to a permanent underclass that needs food aid to survive.
You can blame SNAP recipients in this mess, but it doesn’t change the fact that the richest, most powerful, most agriculturally productive nation in the history of human civilization is unable to feed its children. The reason doesn’t matter. Whether they have irresponsible parents, or worse, someone, somewhere has to look out for the kids.
If the government isn’t there for them, what the f**k is it good for?
The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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