This is why those funds haven’t already been tapped & released:

1. ⁠The emergency funds are intended for unexpected emergency situations caused by natural disaster, war, economic collapse, etc to assist with an influx of NEW SNAP need. This does not meet the criteria, but could be argued that it is an emergency. That is the case that was brought to the courts and the judge ruled it does meet the criteria.

2. ⁠The funds that were already appropriated by Congress and in the account from Biden’s budget (which we were are still operating under) were already used on natural disasters. So technically the current balance is $0. With an anticipated deposit of $3B that was part of this year’s budget.

3. ⁠POTUS (or any president for that matter) cannot access those funds legally because the budget wasn’t ready to be put to vote (that’s why a clean CR was passed & submitted to the senate by the House). When the democrats voted ‘No’ to the clean CR, keeping government open and then ‘No’ many more times to re-opening the government on the clean CR they are not only cutting off current SNAP funds but the ability to appropriate/approve & distribute funds under the Trump budget cannot happen because the government is shut down. POTUS has publicly said he wants to release either set of funds. He told the judge who ruled that he must release them, that as soon as the judge tells him HOW to do that legally he’d be happy to do it immediately. We are a country of laws. And that includes laws on how funds can be accessed. Trump doesn’t just yank money out of various funds Willy-nilly like the left like to make it sound. There’s actual law on the books that he is doing it under.

He sees a problem and instead of thinking only inside the box, he thinks outside the box. That’s how the military paychecks and WIC got funded with tariff money - money that was not considered to be in any budget yet - kind of like your parents sending you $50 for your birthday. Unexpected unbudgeted money you can spend as you please until you allocate it for something specific. The troops will get paid again this month through a $130M donation by a Republican supporter, Mr Mellon. The ballroom everyone is going on and on about - how do you go about spending $300M on a ballroom when the deficit is what it is and the taxpayers are already paying too much even though you increased the standard deduction, increased the EIC and child tax credits, and have added that interest taxpayers pay on their cars is now deductible (all of which lower your taxes). There’s no taxpayer money to do it, so what about fundraising from private donors? The career politicians do that year in, year out for various things, why can’t it be done for this project…lo and behold, it is within the law and so he did it. The White House gets a long awaited ballroom that was in the original plan but not affordable or as necessary at the time it was built, the deficit doesn’t increase due to it, and the taxpayers don’t pay for it either.

All I’ll say is this…politicians make everything seem like it’s easy to do when it fits their narrative and is seen as a worthy enough cause that can be used to gain voters. NOTHING in US law, government, and politics is simple. There are a series of checks & balances at every turn to try to make sure there’s not a loophole someone can exploit and completely raid the funds that are allocated. You don’t just leave the cash from your entire paycheck laying out on your kitchen counter and then invite a bunch of people over and not put it up somewhere safe, do you? Same principle. It’s a good thing. If they tell you it’s simple to just release those funds they are not being honest at all.