Last weekend a federal judge struck down an already temporarily suspended Trump administration rule that would have reduced food stamp benefits to nearly 700,000 people. The rule was suspended in March due to the pandemic.
In December, the Department of Agriculture formalized a proposal for work requirements for recipients of food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, that would have disqualified an estimated 688,000 people from food benefits.
The 700,000 or more unemployed and underemployed workers who were at risk are among the poorest participants in SNAP, with incomes averaging only $187 per month. The Administration claimed that taking away their food assistance would spur them to find jobs.
The judge cited the USDA had been “icily silent” about the number of people who would be affected by its proposed reduction in benefits, adding that one estimate from May 2020 found that SNAP rosters have grown by over 17 percent with over 6 million new enrollees.