25 States Sue to Force SNAP Payments

About 25 states and Washington, D.C., led by multiple state attorneys general and governors including New York, California and Massachusetts, sued the Trump administration Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts seeking to force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to tap emergency contingency funds to continue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments for roughly 42 million Americans that the USDA warned could stop on Nov. 1 amid the government shutdown. The plaintiffs argue the USDA’s suspension is unlawful, arbitrary and capricious because Congress appropriated roughly $5–6 billion in contingency reserves (and there are additional Section 32 funds) that could be used to cover SNAP costs estimated at about $8 billion for November. States say a cutoff would cause “irreparable harm” to children, seniors, veterans and people with disabilities, overwhelm food banks, force layoffs in state SNAP offices and represent an unprecedented interruption in the program’s roughly 60-year history. The USDA has countered that the “well has run dry” and blamed Senate Democrats for the lapse. The states are seeking an expedited ruling to compel the agency to resume payments and the lawsuit intensifies pressure on federal leaders as lawmakers remain deadlocked over reopening the government and funding social programs.