Multistate Coalition of 26 AGs and Governors Fight to Prevent Millions of Americans from Going Hungry
From the New York Attorney General’s Office,
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James and 24 other state leaders, as well as the District of Columbia, today announced that they are suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for unlawfully suspending Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits during the ongoing federal government shutdown. Attorney General James and the coalition argue that the administration’s refusal to issue November SNAP payments to more than 40 million Americans – including nearly three million New Yorkers – violates federal law and could leave countless families hungry. The coalition emphasizes that the administration’s pause is unlawful because USDA is legally required to continue providing benefits as long as it has funding, and the agency has access to billions of dollars in contingency funds that Congress specifically appropriated to keep benefits flowing during funding lapses. The coalition is asking the court to intervene immediately and ensure USDA uses its existing contingency funds to maintain life-saving food assistance benefits through the shutdown.
“Millions of Americans are about to go hungry because the federal government has chosen to withhold food assistance it is legally obligated to provide,” said Attorney General James. “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.”
SNAP is the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, providing critical assistance to low-income households to help them buy groceries and put food on the table. Nationwide, more than 42 million Americans depend on SNAP to feed themselves and their families. Children and seniors make up nearly 60 percent of all SNAP recipients, and well over a million veterans receive SNAP benefits each year. In New York alone, SNAP serves nearly three million people, including nearly one million children and over 600,000 older adults. Approximately seven percent of New York SNAP recipients are disabled. This past year, New Yorkers received approximately $650 million in SNAP benefits each month.
Now, for the first time in SNAP’s 60-year history, the federal government is refusing to issue monthly food assistance payments due to a lapse in appropriations. Despite initially guaranteeing it would use contingency funding to maintain SNAP benefits, on October 10, USDA instructed states to “hold” their payments for November benefits. Two weeks later, USDA formally ordered all states to suspend benefits effective November 1. This directive will halt food assistance for 42 million Americans – people who now risk going hungry due to this suspension.
Attorney General James and the coalition argue that this pause is avoidable and unnecessary. The USDA has access to at least $6 billion in contingency funds appropriated by Congress for exactly this purpose. For decades – including during the first Trump administration’s government shutdown – the federal government has maintained that SNAP operations must continue during funding lapses, using contingency funds as needed. Despite this, on October 24, the administration declared that it will not use these funds to protect families from losing access to food assistance, meaning it is actively deciding to deprive more than 40 million Americans of the lifeline food benefits they depend on. The coalition warns that this decision threatens catastrophic consequences for millions of families and will exacerbate food insecurity nationwide.
On Friday, Attorney General James and 22 other attorneys general wrote a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, seeking clarification on the administration’s plan to protect food assistance through the shutdown, and highlighting the agency’s contingency funds as a possible solution. The attorneys general have not received a response.
The coalition asserts that this cruel and unlawful decision is a clear violation of the Food and Nutrition Act, which requires that “assistance under this program shall be furnished to all eligible households,” and the Administrative Procedure Act, because the action is arbitrary and capricious. Attorney General James and the coalition are asking the court to intervene immediately to ensure vulnerable families do not lose access to food assistance on November 1. They are seeking a temporary restraining order directing USDA to put available contingency funds toward November SNAP benefits for all plaintiff states.
Joining Attorney General James in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
