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in light of the news that the Trump admin has FINALLY hit pause on taking Food Stamps away from 700,000 jobless workers in the middle of the #COVID19 pandemic... i put together a short history of the past month’s events, to put this in full ugly context:
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MARCH 12: Trump's USDA confirms it has considered whether to suspend its Food Stamp cuts due to #COVID19 19—and has decided to let them take effect April 1. https://twitter.com/rebeccavallas/status/1238235382132748288?s=20
MARCH 14: A federal judge issues a temporary injunction blocking Trump’s Food Stamp cuts from taking effect, noting the immense cruelty of stripping jobless workers of food amid the global #COVID19 pandemic: https://twitter.com/rebeccavallas/status/1238853619451072514?s=20
MARCH 18: Trump signs the Families First Act—which includes a provision halting his Food Stamp cuts pending #COVID19—into law.
ALSO MARCH 18: Trump’s USDA confirms it plans to *appeal the injunction* and pursue the cuts despite the pandemic. http://bit.ly/2vzoGcB
ALSO MARCH 18: Trump’s USDA confirms it plans to *appeal the injunction* and pursue the cuts despite the pandemic. http://bit.ly/2vzoGcB
MARCH 25: WH & Senate GOP tell House Dems a 15% increase in Food Stamp benefits in the middle of a pandemic is a dealbreaker; keep it out of the final version of the CARES Act (a package that included a $500B corporate slush fund). https://twitter.com/rebeccavallas/status/1242879762466570240?s=20
MARCH 30: Reports of cars lined up for miles outside food banks begin to spread on social media, as millions of families report running out of food: https://twitter.com/rebeccavallas/status/1244727830631546880?s=20
APRIL 9: Jobless claims near 17 million. The U.S. becomes the world leader in #COVID19 deaths. Meanwhile, the Trump admin has still not confirmed they will drop the appeal of the injunction blocking their Food Stamp cuts from taking effect.
APRIL 10: Finally Trump’s USDA relents and agrees not to appeal the temporary injunction, as part of an agreement with the coalition of 20 state AGs suing the admin to block the rule. A final ruling on their challenge to the rule is expected in the fall. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/us/politics/trump-food-stamps-delay.html
*Worth noting: based on the judge’s temporary injunction, it looks pretty likely that the rule will be found unlawful on the merits (the temporary injunction just halted it pending the pandemic) when that final ruling does come: https://twitter.com/rebeccavallas/status/1238854123627388928?s=20
And let’s not forget, looking even further back, that the Food Stamp cuts Trump just can’t help himself from pursuing in the middle of a pandemic were explicitly rejected by Congress—on a bipartisan basis—back in December 2018: https://twitter.com/rebeccavallas/status/1075748746292576256?s=20
i'll leave it there for this morning, but i really hope @AdamSerwer's getting royalties because you know what has to be said here...
because, to sum it all up: https://twitter.com/rebeccavallas/status/1249528640167182336?s=20
