Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture informed a federal judge that it would pay partial payments to all SNAP recipients, after Attorney General Jeff Jackson sued USDA for withholding SNAP payments from 1.4 million North Carolinians. North Carolina officials responded to this update:
“The Agriculture Department has told the court it will use its entire emergency fund over the next month to make 50 percent payments to every SNAP recipient. That will zero out the emergency fund,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “My office is still reviewing the order to see what else we can do to help, but until this shutdown ends we all need to provide extra support to our local food pantries.”