Judge halts disruption in SNAP benefits for 700,000 Americans

In a ruling on Sunday, US District Court Chief Judge Beryl Howell wrote that making the change in food stamp regulation would "radically and abruptly alter decades of regulatory practice, leaving States scrambling and potentially increasing food insecurity for tens of thousands of Americans."

Last December, the Department of Agriculture set out to change the work requirements of food stamp recipients. The SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) would've disqualified close to 700,000 people for food benefits.

Judge Howell said that the administrators of the proposal hadn't disclosed the number of people that would be affected by the changes. Since May of this year, "SNAP rosters have grown by over 17 percent with over six million new benefit recipients."

This wasn't the first time Howell ruled against the proposal. In mid-March, the beginning of the first wave of coronavirus shutdowns, she issued an injunction against the rule that threatened the food security of those affected by COVID-19.

According to a recent study by Columbia University researchers, more than eight million Americans are considered living in poverty since May.