McGovern Applauds House Legal Action Against Trump Administration’s SNAP cuts

Washington, January 27, 2020

WASHINGTON – Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, issued this statement after the U.S. House of Representatives filed an amicus brief in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the case District of Columbia, et al. v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, which seeks to block a Trump Administration rule that would restrict access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for hundreds of thousands of Americans.

The amicus brief builds off of McGovern’s work last year to bring to the House Floor a rules package that directed the House General Counsel to explore all legal options in response to the administration’s proposals to restrict SNAP eligibility:

“We will not stand idly by while President Trump takes food off the table of hungry Americans. As Chairman of the Rules Committee, I’m proud that on day one of this Congress, we passed a rules package that empowered the House General Counsel to explore all legal options in response to the Trump administration’s expected cuts to SNAP eligibility for vulnerable adults.

“The amicus brief the House filed today makes clear that the administration’s rule is not only unbelievably cruel – it’s also contrary to the purpose of SNAP and in opposition to a bipartisan, bicameral decision in Congress.”