MSNBC’s Jen Psaki Takes Apart Trump Case Against Food Stamp Rescue in Searing Rant

MSNBC host and former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki took apart the case that President Donald Trump’s administration has been making to justify not using emergency funds to rescue SNAP benefits amid the government shutdown.

The White House and Republicans have been insisting it would be unlawful to use contingency funds to continue SNAP benefits — commonly referred to as Food Stamps — after the program runs out of money. Federal Judge Indira Talwani is set to rule on whether to force the administration to do so.

On Thursday’s edition of MSNBC’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki, the host opened her show with a lengthy commentary in which she torpedoed the legal justification the administration is relying on:

JEN PSAKI: Today, a federal judge heard the case. And as I mentioned earlier, that judge expects to issue a ruling at some point tonight.

And the “AP” says she, quote, seemed to be leaning toward requiring the government to put billions of dollars in emergency funds towards SNAP. That’s what those funds are for. And these contingency funds that she said is — that she said is her interpretation of what Congress’s intent when an agency’s funding runs out. Yeah, that’s what a contingency fund is for.

And congressional intent is key here, because the core of the Trump administration’s argument is that they believe that tapping into these emergency funds would, quote, “violate a law that bars the government from paying for programs without congressional approval.”

Now, this leads us back to one of the dumpster fire events of last week. Trump got hundreds of millions of dollars from private donors to fund his new ballroom and the destruction of the East Wing of the White House, which we all remember. He had no issue with the limitations of the law in that case. He also got a billionaire buddy of his to write a check for $103 million to the military. And believe me, we all want members of the military to be paid, but not by someone who may think they are owed something in return by the president of the United States.

Both of those things I just mentioned would violate the very same law the Trump administration has been claiming inaccurately is keeping them from funding SNAP. The law is called the Anti-Deficiency Act. And without getting too wonky, it basically means that the federal government can’t spend any money without congressional approval, even if that money is donated for good reason.

But here’s the thing, SNAP funding does not even fall into that bucket. Congress has set aside a specific fund for programs like snap for emergencies, and as the judge put it in federal court today, quote, it’s hard for me to understand that this is not an emergency when there’s no money and a lot of people are needing their SNAP benefits.

I think it’s really important to be clear about what Republicans were trying to do here. They were ginning up excuses to actively force 42 million Americans to lose their SNAP benefits when they didn’t have to. They were choosing to take food away from 42 million of the poorest Americans, while projecting while trying to accuse Democrats of what Johnson and Republicans were actually doing.

I mean, J.D. Vance actually laid out what was happening really clearly today. Believe it or not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: They are trying to take a hostage and we can’t reward that behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PSAKI: Taking a hostage, using food that tens of millions of Americans need as a hostage to negotiate with. That is what Republicans in Congress were trying to do here, are trying to do here.

And today, Mike Johnson laid out why. Here was Speaker Johnson earlier today responding to a question about why he wouldn’t just move money around to fund SNAP. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: Because if you deviate from the goal of reopening the entire government, Chuck Schumer and the radicals over there will continue to play games with people’s paychecks, their livelihoods. And if you do just part of this, it will reduce the pressure for them to do all of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PSAKI: There you have it. That is the game that Republican leaders are playing here. They are using Americans as leverage. They are trying to purposefully make the shutdown more painful on the poorest Americans, on federal employees, too, to put pressure on Democrats to cave, each time lying and saying their hands were tied.

Watch above via MSNBC’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki.