The Trump administration is giving the nation’s grocery and convenience stores a 90-day reprieve from having to comply with a new regulation that will require them to expand the range of foods they sell to accept federal food aid as payment, the USDA announced Friday.
The delay comes after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani negotiated an agreement with the president Donald Trump give stores a cushion before having to stock more varieties of fruits, dairy, vegetables and grains in order to accept the benefits of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Mamdani warned the administration in a letter earlier this month that the pending rule would hurt the city’s bodegas and convenience stores.
The mayor said he forwarded the extension request to the president after sending the letter.
“What I told the president is that this is a rule that, if allowed to be implemented on schedule, would throw the lives of so many working New Yorkers into a real place of anxiety and chaos,” Mamdani said at a news conference announcing the change. “And the president took that concern seriously.”
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