Two dozen states sue White House over food stamps suspension amid shutdown | US federal government shutdown 2025

A coalition of more than two dozen states sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its decision to suspend food stamps during the government shutdown.

The lawsuit, co-led by New York, California and Massachusetts, asks a federal judge to force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to tap emergency reserve funds to distribute food benefits to the nearly 42 million families and children who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap). The USDA said no benefits would be issued on November 1.

“Snap is one of our nation’s most effective tools to fight hunger, and USDA has the money to make it work,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “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.”

Democratic attorneys general and three governors argue in their lawsuit that the federal government is required by law to maintain food benefits for low-income households that rely on the program. They are seeking a decision by Friday on their motion.

Snap is the nation’s largest nutrition assistance program, according to the USDA, serving about one in eight low-income Americans at a cost of about $8 billion per month. The USDA contingency fund is estimated at approximately $6 billion.

The expiration of Snap benefits has emerged as a major pressure point in the standoff over the shutdown between Democrats and Republicans. Across the country, food banks and pantries, already struggling with severe cuts to federal programs, were bracing for a surge of hungry people if federal food aid was suspended, as state officials scrambled to keep aid flowing to recipients.

Many Democrats and Republicans in Congress had called on the Trump administration to use reserve funding to prevent widespread hunger and financial hardship for millions of American families, but that funding has so far declined.

“The instant benefits are about to end on Saturday,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Fox News. “We don’t have the financial means to cover them.”

The USDA Food and Nutrition homepage displays a banner with a surprisingly partisan message falsely accusing Senate Democrats of shutting down the government to provide health care to undocumented immigrants and trans Americans. “Ultimately, the well is dry,” the notice states. “At this time, no benefits will be paid on November 1.”

“Despite having the money to fund Snap, the Trump administration is creating unnecessary fear, anxiety, and harm for millions of families and their children, especially as the holidays approach,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in a statement. “It is long past time for the Trump administration to act to help, rather than harm, those who rely on our government. »

The plaintiffs cite an Agriculture Department memo stating that reserve funds were “not legally available to cover regular benefits” during the government shutdown, which the document blames on Democrats. The agency said it can only draw on reserve funds in certain circumstances, such as natural disasters.

The memo appears to contradict the department’s outdated funding plan, released in late September, which stated that Congress’s “obvious” intent was for Snap’s operations to continue during a government shutdown and pointed to “multi-year emergency funds” that could be tapped in the event the shutdowns were prolonged. The plan has been removed from the ministry’s website.

“USDA not only has the authority to use contingency funds, but it has a legal obligation to spend all available dollars to fund Snap benefits,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said, adding, “We are taking a stand because families will experience hunger and malnutrition if the Trump administration gets its way.”