President Donald Trump’s administration asked a federal appeals court Friday to block a judge’s order that it distribute November’s full monthly SNAP food benefits amid a U.S. government shutdown, even as at least some states said they were moving quickly to get the money to people.
The judge gave the Republican administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But the administration asked the appeals court to suspend any court orders requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund, and instead allow it to continue with planned partial SNAP payments for the month.
The court filing came even as the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a memo to states that it’s working to make funds available Friday for full monthly SNAP benefits. Officials in California, Kansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin confirmed that some SNAP recipients already have been issued their full November payments.
Here are more Trump administration headlines from Friday:
Meat packing: Trump on Friday accused foreign-owned meat packers of driving up the price of beef in the U.S. and asked the Department of Justice to open an investigation. “I have asked the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation,” Trump wrote in the social media post.
Tariffs: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán says his country has received an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy after a meeting in the White House with Trump, an allowance that will keep Russian oil and gas flowing to Hungary in a sign of the close affinity between the two leaders.
G20: Trump said Friday that no U.S. government officials would be attending the Group of 20 summit this year in South Africa, citing the country’s treatment of white farmers. In his post, Trump cited “abuses” of Afrikaners, including violence and death as well as confiscation of their land and farms.
Pardons: Trump pardoned former New York Mets great Darryl Strawberry on past tax evasion and drug charges, citing the 1983 National League Rookie of the Year’s post-career embrace of his Christian faith and longtime sobriety. He also granted a pardon to Michael McMahon, a former New York police sergeant who was convicted of helping China try to scare an ex-official into going back to his homeland, a prominent case in U.S. authorities’ efforts to combat what they claim are Beijing’s far-flung efforts to repress critics.
— From wire and Sinclair National Desk reports
