This morning in the Massachusetts SNAP case of Half the States v. America (because, yes, the government is still shut down!) the plaintiffs (the states) have filed a followup regarding their "supplemental facts" update and the government's extremely-polite response telling them what idiots they were and also the government's willingness to assist on a federal holiday:
"You should have told us how to do our jobs a long time ago, and even though you did, it's your fault we have all this chaos and confusion. BTW WE STILL WANT FULL GIBS FOR THIS MONTH AND WE STILL WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN'T HOLD US RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR FUCKUPS IN THIS WHOLE MESS EVEN THOUGH WE ACTED WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION OR GUIDANCE AND LET OUR FOOD STAMP COFFERS GET OVERDRAWN."
And now this afternoon, lady judge Indira Talwani has finally decided to take some action in the Massachusetts SNAP case of Half the States v. America,
on the very day wherein the government is allegedly going to reopen in a handful of hours. She has finally, after much determination and pelting with motions and notices by the plaintiffs (the states), granted them a temporary restraining order. I think it's possible she hasn't read (or didn't understand) the most recent documents in the case wherein the states were bitching, the USDA explained to them that the states were being stupid, and the states (this morning) tried to save face by bitching some more.
She's literally ordering the government to do something they're already doing, and which they were facilitating even yesterday which was a federal holiday, i.e. helping the idiot states get their partial gibs which they could already have had by LAST week if they weren't so fucking stupid as well as BRAZEN!ly attempting to use the courts to force full gibs.
Hilariously, this judge DENIES the states their request for an order for full bennies because of all the jazz going on in the Rhode Island case, which is currently before SCOTUS. She also DENIES their hissyfitting demand to be "held harmless" on any fuckups they commit, while simultaneously granting a vaguely-worded "stay" against USDA from enforcing any of the threats they issued in their guidance letters as to partial payments (letters, I remind you dear readers, that were coming fast and furious as a result of the constant legal shenanigans they were being hit with in both this case and the Rhode Island one).
Oh, and now we're suddenly going to have
another freaking hearing this afternoon on the subject of those damn 65% bennies that some of the states have been too stupid thus far to properly request, which, again, the USDA has already instructed them on and helpfully came into the office on a federal holiday to help facilitate.
The judge then reiterates her order that the USDA's Big Meanie Letter of November 8th (you know, the THREATENING LETTER THAT WAS SENT ON A SATURDAY NIGHT!!!11) is stayed. The states need not worry about "undoing" the idiotic BRAZEN and unauthorized thing that some of them did by submitting for full gibs instead of partial gibs.
In my own opinion, such as it is, this TRO is rather shockingly toothless compared to some of the things other liberal justices around the country have been pulling of late. It could be, as I've suggested, that this judge is gunshy about her judicial record after getting so completely assrammed by Trump and SCOTUS earlier in the year when she tried to stop him from certain deportation actions. In any event, with what she's ordering here, seems like the government can easily run rings around her wording, if they want to later issue some nice, juicy consequences to the states for their misbehavior in this case. We shall see. If the hearing
is held later this afternoon and remote access is available, I'll be listening in.
