{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://elfreth.house.gov/media/press-releases/team-maryland-pushes-usda-immediately-release-full-november-snap-benefits", "Team Maryland Pushes USDA to Immediately Release Full November SNAP Benefits", "2025-11-05", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "House", "MD", "Sarah Elfreth", "E000301", "elfreth.house.gov", "elfreth", "https://elfreth.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Today, Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth (MD-03) joined Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Representatives April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Johnny Olszewski (MD-02), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Steny Hoyer (MD-05), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), and Jamie Raskin (MD-08) in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins urging the immediate release of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November, highlighting the impact on all Marylanders \u2013 and millions of Americans. The letter arrives a day after the President\u2014using his social media account to create more chaos and confusion\u2014threatened to defy court orders and illegally withhold SNAP funding, only to be retracted hours later by the White House.\n\n\u201cLike millions of Americans, Maryland families are feeling the strain of rising food prices of household essentials like beef, coffee, eggs, and certain types of produce. Uncertainty around SNAP benefits during the government shutdown means that more than 680,000 of our most vulnerable constituents\u2014including nearly 270,000 children, 120,000 older adults, and 130,000 Marylanders with disabilities\u2014are now unsure of how they will put food on the table,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\n\nUnderscoring the legal requirement for the Administration to continue SNAP, they wrote, \u201cOn October 31st, federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled that the Administration is legally required to continue funding SNAP benefits using contingency funds during the government shutdown. These decisions confirm USDA\u2019s authority and obligation to act immediately to protect access to food assistance for millions of Americans.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe USDA\u2019s refusal to act before November 1st has resulted in $124 million in SNAP benefits being illegally withheld and likely delayed for Marylanders,\u201d the lawmakers continued. \u201cOur constituents who rely on SNAP need resources to provide food for their families immediately. They have turned to state and local services for help, creating an unsustainable strain on our food banks, food pantries, homeless shelters, and community action agencies.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe cannot play politics with food assistance for our most vulnerable Americans. The courts have spoken clearly: the Administration must use the full amount of available contingency funds to continue SNAP benefits during the shutdown. We also strongly urge the USDA to use its transfer authority under 7 U.S.C. \u00a7 2257 to cover the remaining gap in November benefits. To provide anything less than full benefits for SNAP recipients for the month of November is unconscionable. Our offices stand ready to work with you to ensure Marylanders and families across the country continue to receive vital SNAP benefits without further delay,\u201d the lawmakers concluded.\n\nThe full text of the letter can be found HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://elfreth.house.gov/media/press-releases/team-maryland-pushes-usda-immediately-release-full-november-snap-benefits"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9162281639873981, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}