⁍ The rule would have required more food stamp recipients to work in order to receive benefits.

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⁍ Congress suspended work mandates in the food stamp program as part of a coronavirus relief package in March.

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⁍ Judge says USDA has been ‘icily silent’ about how many Americans would have been denied benefits had the changes been in effect during the pandemic.

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– A federal judge has struck down a Trump administration rule that would have required more food stamp recipients to work or participate in training in order to receive benefits. Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court in Washington, DC, wrote in a 67-page ruling that the Agriculture Department “has been ‘icily silent’ about how many Americans would have been denied benefits had the changes been in effect during the pandemic,” the New York Times reports. A coalition of attorneys general from 19 states, the District of Columbia, and the City of New York filed a lawsuit in January challenging the USDA rule. The rule, announced in December, would have required more food stamp recipients to work in order to receive benefits by limiting states’ ability to waive existing work mandates. It had been scheduled to take effect on April 1, but Howell in mid-March blocked it from being implemented, and Congress suspended work mandates in the food stamp program as part of a coronavirus relief package that month. The rule could have resulted in 688,000 non-disabled, working-age adults without dependents losing their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or SNAP, as food stamps are formally known, according to Agriculture Department estimates, which were calculated prior to the pandemic. It was expected to save $5.5 billion over five years. More than 6 million people have signed up for benefits, as of May, a 17% increase, according to the ruling.Hunger has risen amid the economic upheaval wrought by the economic upheaval wrought by the pandemic. Many lined up at food banks, which distributed more than 1.9 billion meals between March and June.