Dozens of states sue Trump administration over planned food stamp cuts

WASHINGTON — More than two dozen states sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its recent refusal to fund food stamps during the government shutdown, as roughly 42 million low-income aid recipients confronted the risk of hunger and financial hardship starting within days.

The states, including Minnesota, Arizona, California and Massachusetts, described the impending cuts as unnecessary and illegal, and they asked a federal judge to force Washington to maintain benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, starting Saturday.

Roughly 1 in 8 people in the United States receive food stamps, which average around $187 a month and cost the federal government about $8 billion monthly. Lawmakers must regularly approve money for the program, though SNAP maintains a sizable reserve to cover any emergencies or shortfalls.

Many congressional Democrats and Republicans had encouraged the Trump administration to use this funding to preserve food stamps into November, with the government expected to remain closed. But the Trump administration declined Friday to extend that reprieve, even though the Agriculture Department said weeks ago that it could reprogram the money to prevent benefit cuts.

In their lawsuit, officials from 25 states and the District of Columbia criticized the Trump administration for that sudden policy reversal, arguing that the federal government had a legal obligation to maintain funding for food stamps, which Congress made permanent in the 1960s.

The suit was filed by a mix of Democratic attorneys general and governors from states including Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Nevada and North Carolina. If they prevail, it could compel USDA to tap its emergency funds and provide benefits to those states’ residents, though the exact scope of any relief would be up to a judge.

The states asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to rule by Friday on a motion that could essentially force the administration to tap the contingency funds to pay SNAP benefits next month. The fund, which is estimated to contain $5 billion to $6 billion, would be enough to provide at least partial payments to enrollees.

Many state leaders warned Tuesday that a lapse in food stamps could prove financially dire, hammering not only poor families but the merchants who accept the benefits and the food banks that must step in to help.

North Carolina officials said Tuesday that there were 10 counties in the state where 1 in 4 residents was enrolled in SNAP. Jeff Jackson, the Democratic state attorney general, said at a news conference that nonprofits would not be “able to pick up the slack,” describing the actions of the Trump administration as a “deliberate precipitation of a major hunger crisis.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The Agriculture Department declined to explain its policy, furnishing only a statement that attacked Democrats over the shutdown.

“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the agency said in a banner on its public-facing website. “At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01.”

In its memo last week, viewed by the New York Times, the Agriculture Department said the contingency fund was “not legally available” during the government shutdown. The agency said it could only tap the reserve money in limited cases, such as natural disasters. It did not otherwise explain its sudden shift in policy, and it threatened to deny reimbursements to states that try to finance food stamps on their own.

In Louisiana, where nearly 20% of the population relies on food stamps, Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, signed an emergency order ordering the use of state money for the program through Nov. 4. Local lawmakers are also racing to approve a bill that would allow reserve funds to be used to cover additional missing payments.

Broadly, though, Republicans remain adamant that the only sustainable solution rests with Washington.

“We’ll continue to look at every option we have to take care of people in our state,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas said in an interview. “But ultimately the thing that makes the most sense — and is by far not only the best solution, but should be happening because it is their responsibility — is to have Senate Democrats quit playing games and fund our government.”

The legal battle over SNAP further evinced President Donald Trump’s political strategy in a shutdown with no clear end. Repeatedly, Trump has stretched the limits of his powers to blunt the impact of the closure, but only for the agencies, programs and workers he sees as central to his political agenda. Otherwise, the president has used the stalemate as a cudgel to attack his foes and pursue steep budget cuts that Congress has not adopted.

The president has reprogrammed billions of dollars in federal spending to pay border agents and troops, while seeking to fire thousands of furloughed federal workers. Trump has also sourced additional money to assist farmers, a major political constituency, while moving to cut billions of dollars reserved for cities and states led by Democrats.

The Trump administration first warned states in October about an interruption to food stamps, though it said it was exploring backup plans to help families in need.