25 states sue the Trump Administration for freezing SNAP benefits: “There is no excuse”

Several officials from half of the United States and the District of Columbia have sued the Trump administration over suspending food stamp benefits as millions of Americans could lose their benefits and food aid beginning Saturday (Nov. 1) due to the government shutdown.

States involved in the lawsuit include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. State officials are asking a federal judge to order the Department of Agriculture to provide benefits via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for November, suggesting that a contingency fund should be used to ensure the assistance continues for more than 25 million people who live within their borders.

The lawmakers argue the government’s decision to withhold food stamp payments, which are provided to nearly 42 million people across the country, is unlawful and threatens to block millions of Americans from receiving food benefits that would otherwise protect against food insecurity and hunger.

“Shutting off SNAP benefits will cause deterioration of public health and well-being,” state officials wrote in their lawsuit. “Ultimately, the States will bear costs associated with many of these harms. The loss of SNAP benefits leads to food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition, which are associated with numerous negative health outcomes in children, such as poor concentration, decreased cognitive function, fatigue, depression, and behavioral problems.”

The Department of Agriculture declined to tap into reserve funds totaling nearly $5 billion to assist in federal food aid after the Trump administration announced food benefits would not go out on Nov. 1, blaming Democrats for not supporting a House-passed stopgap bill that would reopen the government.

“The well has run dry,” a statement reads on their website.

The impending lapse in SNAP benefits has raised eyebrows on both sides of the aisle. Sen. Josh Howley of Missouri, a Republican, introduced a bill that aims to ensure continued funding for SNAP during the shutdown, just as a contingency plan was formed during the previous government shutdown in 2019. The plan has garnered bipartisan support with 10 Republicans supporting the plan as well as Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont.

“Millions of Americans are about to go hungry because the federal government has chosen to withhold food assistance it is legally obligated to provide,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “SNAP is one of our nation’s most effective tools to fight hunger, and the USDA has the money to keep it running. There is no excuse for this administration to abandon families who rely on SNAP, or food stamps, as a lifeline. The federal government must do its job to protect families.”