Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Following a ruling that blocks the Trump Administration’s stricter work requirements for certain recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA) issued this statement welcoming the nationwide injunction:

“It is absolutely unconscionable that as the CDC is calling on people to stay home and avoid interactions that could spread the coronavirus further, but the Trump Administration is refusing to withdraw their cruel rule that will force workers to maintain work hours that could place their health and well-being at risk,” said McGovern. “In the increasingly likely event that more workplaces and schools close, folks who can’t work or train for work won’t be able to meet minimum requirements, and could lose the very benefits their families need during a pandemic.”

In the ruling, Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the attorneys general for 19 states, the District of Columbia, the City of New York, and 3 private plaintiffs, to temporarily block the finalized rule that would have gone into effect on April 1, and stripped benefits from an estimated 700,000 able-bodied adults without dependents, or ABAWDs.

“I am encouraged that the Families First legislation we passed early Saturday morning will temporarily waive these work requirements even in the absence of the court’s ruling, but you can bet that when we get through this public health crisis, the Administration will be back at the drawing board, working on ways to take food from poor people,” McGovern added. “I’ll be there to stop them.”