Minnesotans who receive food assistance will get partial benefits in November after two federal judges determined the Trump administration must use emergency funds to keep making payments.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in late October it would suspend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments starting Nov. 1, arguing the agency could not use contingency funds to keep the program running during the ongoing government shutdown.
A coalition of nonprofits and cities sued in Rhode Island, and Attorney General Keith Ellison co-led 24 states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit in Massachusetts.
Federal judges agreed in both states that the USDA must use contingency funds to keep providing payments. In Rhode Island, a judge ordered the agency to use those contingency funds to make at least partial November SNAP benefits. The Massachusetts judge ordered the USDA to inform the court by Monday whether it planned to provide partial benefits this month.
Ellison held a news conference in St. Paul on Monday and said officials “have to stand up for our fellow Minnesotans, stand up for people having something to eat.”
“My own belief is that the administration is using food as a weapon,” Ellison said, “and that’s wrong.”
In court filings Monday in the two cases, the USDA said it would drain $4.65 billion in contingency funds to provide partial benefits to families in November but would not transfer money from other child nutrition funds to provide full benefits, calling it an “unacceptable risk” to shift funds from other nutrition programs, such as school meals for children. The agency said it would provide tables for states to calculate benefits by the end of Monday.
In a statement, the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families, which administers SNAP, said it was “grateful the courts are upholding our laws.”
