At issue is SNAP’s “Equal Treatment Rule,” which bars stores from either discriminating against people in the program or offering them favorable treatment.
I dug a little further. The SNAP “Equal Treatment Rule” is not a standalone statute passed by Congress, it’s an agency regulation issued by USDA under its authority to administer the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It is codified in federal regulations (7 C.F.R. Part 274). SNAP itself is authorized by the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. §§ 2011–2036). That law gives USDA broad authority to regulate how benefits are issued and used.
Oh, the regulatory authority of the agency that has no budget? The one that isn’t supposed to be working because the government is shut down? The one that can’t do its job because the Republicans won’t let it? That’s the one that’s mysteriously somehow going to enforce its regulations the opposite of how they were intended, to harm the public instead of helping it?
Laws don’t instantly become moot just because there isn’t a police officer standing right in front of you with handcuffs ready to go, and it’s not a good idea to normalize having agencies deciding on an ad-hoc basis “we’re just going to let our rules slide this time.” What if the EPA did that for polluters?
I am in no way supporting this, I’m just pointing out that the problem isn’t as easy or obvious to solve as it seems. They need to change the regulations and there’s a process for that. They should have seen something like this coming and had the regulations account for it to begin with, but they didn’t and now we’re here. Oversights like that happen sometimes.
Did you read the article?
I dug a little further. The SNAP “Equal Treatment Rule” is not a standalone statute passed by Congress, it’s an agency regulation issued by USDA under its authority to administer the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It is codified in federal regulations (7 C.F.R. Part 274). SNAP itself is authorized by the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. §§ 2011–2036). That law gives USDA broad authority to regulate how benefits are issued and used.
Oh, the regulatory authority of the agency that has no budget? The one that isn’t supposed to be working because the government is shut down? The one that can’t do its job because the Republicans won’t let it? That’s the one that’s mysteriously somehow going to enforce its regulations the opposite of how they were intended, to harm the public instead of helping it?
Laws don’t instantly become moot just because there isn’t a police officer standing right in front of you with handcuffs ready to go, and it’s not a good idea to normalize having agencies deciding on an ad-hoc basis “we’re just going to let our rules slide this time.” What if the EPA did that for polluters?
I am in no way supporting this, I’m just pointing out that the problem isn’t as easy or obvious to solve as it seems. They need to change the regulations and there’s a process for that. They should have seen something like this coming and had the regulations account for it to begin with, but they didn’t and now we’re here. Oversights like that happen sometimes.