Trump Administration Attempts To Make Shutdown 'Painless' May Stretch Limits Of Federal Law

Attempts To Make Shutdown 'Painless' May Stretch Limits Of Federal Law


https://www.npr.org/2019/01/18/685829213/attempts-to-make-shutdown-painless-may-stretch-limits-of-federal-law?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20190118





In its quest to blunt the effects of the partial government shutdown, the Trump administration is using broad legal interpretations to continue providing certain services. Critics argue that the administration is stretching — and possibly breaking — the law to help bolster President Trump's position in his fight with Democrats over funding for a border wall. Even with the creative use of loopholes and existing funds, though, the actions the administration is taking will be hard to sustain if the shutdown continues to drag on.

When funding lapses, as happened when lawmakers and the president could not agree on a spending plan before Dec. 22, the federal government must adhere to the Antideficiency Act. That law requires agencies to stop all operations, except under certain circumstances. In the current shutdown, about 25 percent of the government is without funding, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service. Despite the shutdown, the administration has announced that a number of programs will continue to function at least for a while, including food stamp benefits and distributing tax refunds.

In the case of food stamps, formally known as USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the administration was able to take advantage of language in the short-term spending bill that expired in December. That bill allowed appropriations for the program up to 30 days after it ended.

So, USDA is working to issue food stamp benefits for February early to meet that deadline. After that, it's unclear what happens if the shutdown goes on for weeks or months. The department has about $3 billion in contingency funds that it can use to support the program, but the amount of benefits for February alone was about $4.8 billion.


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