Dear john,Last week, I joined over 200 of my Democratic colleagues in calling on the Trump Administration - which oversees the USDA - to immediately release the nearly $5 billion in SNAP contingency funding that would allow November benefits to go out without interruption. This comes as the USDA announced that the agency's contingency fund cannot legally be used to provide food assistance benefits for more than 42 million people in November, as the government shutdown drags on.Yet this is a complete reversal of the USDA's earlier stance that could be found in a now-deleted copy of their contingency plan for a shutdown.It stated: “Congressional intent is evident that SNAP’s operations should continue since the program has been provided with multi-year contingency funds that can be used for State Administrative Expenses to ensure that the State can also continue operations during a Federal Government shutdown. These multi-year contingency funds are also available to fund participant benefits in the event that a lapse occurs in the middle of the fiscal year.”If the Trump administration does not use the contingency funds, it would mean a halt to more than $614 million to the 3.5 million who rely each month on food assistance in Texas, including 92,000 El Pasoans.One can't help but wonder if their sudden policy reversal is to use hungry families as a bargaining chip for the shutdown.