Opinion | The Trump admin is trying to hold us hostage. And they’re using SNAP to do it

It was announced last week that over 41 million people wouldn’t be receiving the money they depend on to buy groceries. Since then, those people have been scrambling to figure out where their next meal was going to come from. Would it be from the local food pantry? Would they have to pass on buying other essentials so they could take a trip to the grocery store?

Meanwhile on Halloween, President Donald Trump and his mega-rich friends were having a Great Gatsby Roaring 20s-themed party at Mar-a-Lago. Guests were decked out in flapper dresses and dapper tuxes, all while being entertained by female dancers and enjoying multiple courses. Let’s try to remember the devastation that followed the lavishness of the 1920s.

What has ensued since the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would be halting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, is nothing short of political games.

There are close to $6 billion in contingency funds meant to be used to fund programs like SNAP in case of a government shutdown. The USDA and Trump administration chose not to use these funds and let benefits stall.

On Oct. 31, two federal judges ruled those contingency funds had to be used and ordered the administration to either partially or fully fund SNAP amidst the shutdown. On Nov. 3, in a court filing, the administration said it would partially fund SNAP.

As the story usually goes with this administration, the back and forth continued today on Nov. 4, when Trump announced in a Truth Social post that benefits will “be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up the government … and not before!” This post is a direct contradiction to the legal court filing the administration made yesterday.

Republicans have also used the fight over SNAP as yet another attack against immigrants. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins went so far as to say SNAP is “bloated” and “broken” and that Democrats know if “handouts” stop, “those illegals will go back home.”

A refresher for those who need it: Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for and do not receive federal benefits including SNAP, social security or unemployment.

This administration thinks the longer it withholds food from its own citizens, Democrats will cave and agree to Republicans’ federal budget. The budget which will astronomically raise health care costs. 

They are willing to let Americans go hungry if it means their political agenda will advance.

The administration might do well to remember the infamous line that came out of the French Revolution: Let them eat cake!