USDA Sec. Rollins Shuts Down Democrat Claims of Their False Food Stamp Narrative

“Democrats keep saying USDA has money in their accounts — that it’s our fault. That is false and it is a lie.”

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins explained that while USDA does have a contingency fund, it can’t be used unless Congress funds the underlying program:

Reporter: Hakeem Jeffries said the term he used was lying, lying that some of these SNAP benefits couldn’t be delivered. Can you explain or refute that? Give us your perspective, what their perspective is and what your argument is, why you think it—

Secretary Rollins: Yeah, and I appreciate the opportunity to explain that. So the fact that the Democrats are saying, but wait, USDA has money in their accounts, it is really their fault—I’ve seen it over and over and over from some of their leaders—is absolute false and it is a lie. We have been saying on October 10th, we sent messages out, on October 24th we sent messages out, these benefits end on November 1st.

Now, let me get down into a little bit of the details on that to better explain. So there is a contingency fund at USDA, but that contingency fund, by the way, doesn’t even cover, I think, half of the $9.2 billion that would be required for November SNAP, but it is only allowed to flow if the underlying program is funded. It’s called a contingency fund, and by law, contingency fund can only flow when the underlying fund is flowing.

So for example, if today the Democrats say, “Oh never mind, sorry, we’ll open the government,” and SNAP flows, Hurricane Melissa or one of the hurricanes hits, that’s the contingency fund that we would use to send more money into the vulnerable communities that are harmed by a specific event like a hurricane. But it is a contingency fund that can only flow if the underlying appropriation is approved. And listen, even if it could flow, it doesn’t even cover half of the month of November. So here we are again, in two weeks, having the exact same conversation.