{"id":2503940,"date":"2025-10-28T15:03:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T19:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blue-states-sue-usda-for-not-using-emergency-funds-amid-snap-lapse\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T15:05:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T19:05:02","slug":"blue-states-sue-usda-for-not-using-emergency-funds-amid-snap-lapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blue-states-sue-usda-for-not-using-emergency-funds-amid-snap-lapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue states sue USDA for not using emergency funds amid SNAP lapse"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fblue-states-sue-usda-for-not-using-emergency-funds-amid-snap-lapse%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2503940&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A coalition of Democratic-led states is suing the U.S. department of Agriculture (USDA) and its secretary, Brooke Rollins, over the suspension of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits caused by the government shutdown. Filed in a Massachusetts federal court, the lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration illegally halted SNAP benefits, affecting over 42 million Americans who rely on this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-did-republicans-vote-against-baby-formula\/\" title=\"FACT CHECK: Did Republicans Vote Against Baby Formula?\">federal food assistance program<\/a>. The USDA notified states that there where insufficient funds to cover November SNAP benefits starting November 1, despite the existence of a $6 billion contingency fund appropriated by Congress that could be used to continue aid.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit argues that the USDA has the authority and legal obligation to use these emergency funds but is refusing based on a narrow interpretation that the contingency fund cannot be used for regular benefits. The administration&#8217;s suspension of benefits is claimed to violate the Administrative Procedures Act as arbitrary and unlawful. Multiple attorneys general and governors from more than 20 states have joined the suit, highlighting the critical impact on vulnerable populations, including seniors, veterans, and working families.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally,the lawsuit targets the White House office of Management and Budget for withholding additional funds. Meanwhile, several Democratic members of Congress have proposed legislation-the SNAP Back Act-to ensure funding continuity for SNAP during government shutdowns and to reimburse states for emergency expenditures. The legal and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >political dispute arises amid<\/a> the ongoing government shutdown, which has led to uncertainty and delays in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/food-stamps-final-maryland-snap-direct-payment-worth-up-to-1691-goes-out-in-10-days\/\" title=\"Last chance for Maryland ... recipients to receive up to ,691 in final direct payment in 10 days.\">essential food assistance<\/a> just before the holiday season.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Blue states sue USDA for not using emergency funds to alleviate SNAP funding lapse<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2386185\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A group of Democratic states is suing the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-agriculture\/\">Department of Agriculture<\/a> and its secretary, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/brooke-rollins\/\">Brooke Rollins<\/a>, for failing to use emergency funds to help alleviate the lapse in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/snap\/\">Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program<\/a> benefits caused by the government shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>Filed in a Massachusetts federal court on Tuesday, the lawsuit alleges the Trump administration illegally suspended SNAP benefits, harming more than 42 million Americans who rely on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-investigating-massive-fraud-in-nonprofits-purportedly-providing-food-for-children-using-covid-19-funds\/\" title=\"FBI Investigating \u2018Massive Fraud\u2019 In Nonprofits Purportedly Providing Food For Children Using COVID-19 ...s\">federal food program<\/a>. SNAP funding is set to run out on Nov. 1 unless the shutdown ends by then.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3866804\/wisconsin-joins-lawsuit-over-end-of-food-stamp-benefits\/\">Wisconsin joins lawsuit over end of food stamp benefits<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/3866473\/beshear-casts-trump-not-very-america-first-20-billion-argentina-bailout-shutdown\/\">Beshear casts Trump as &#8216;not very America First&#8217; with $20 billion Argentina bailout during shutdown<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3866544\/house-democrats-biden-autopen-report-distraction-from-government-shutdown\/\">House Democrats pan Biden autopen report as distraction from government shutdown<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The lawsuit was filed by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. The governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania also joined the complaint.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, USDA warned state agencies that there would be insufficient funds to support SNAP by the start of November. The lawsuit&rsquo;s plaintiffs, however, argued there are enough emergency funds to aid states in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/millions-of-people-in-half-the-states-set-to-lose-food-aid-benefits-due-to-shutdown\/\" title=\"Millions of people in \u2018half the states\u2019 set to lose food aid ... due to shutdown\">distributing food aid<\/a> at this time.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Because of USDA&rsquo;s actions, SNAP benefits will be delayed for the first time since the program&rsquo;s inception,&rdquo; the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azag.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2025-10\/001%202025.10.28%20Complaint%20-%20MA%20v.%20USDA.pdf\">complaint states<\/a>. &ldquo;Worse still, USDA suspended SNAP benefits even though, on information and belief, it has funds available to it that are sufficient to fund all, or at least a substantial portion, of November SNAP benefits.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>USDA directed states in an Oct. 10 letter to withhold the issuance of November SNAP benefits to their residents. In a follow-up letter dated Oct. 24, the department disclosed it &ldquo;is suspending all November 2025 benefit allotments until such time as sufficient federal funding is provided, or until FNS directs State agencies otherwise,&rdquo; effective Nov. 1.<\/p>\n<p>The blue-state coalition made the case that there is enough funding because <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congress\/\">Congress<\/a> appropriated $6 billion set aside for the SNAP contingency fund to the USDA this year. The funds were available for allocation as of Oct. 1, according to the court document.<\/p>\n<p>The coalition took issue with the USDA&rsquo;s legal reasoning for why it can&rsquo;t use the contingency fund. Because the appropriation for regular monthly benefits &ldquo;no longer exists,&rdquo; USDA said in a memo, the &ldquo;contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The emergency funds are also not likely to be used to supplement SNAP because they&rsquo;re typically reserved for unforeseen natural disasters, such as hurricanes. In such cases, emergency funds would be diverted toward the Disaster SNAP program. The lawsuit acknowledges a USDA statement on Hurricane Melissa, which could head north toward Florida this week after hitting Jamaica.<\/p>\n<p>The White House&rsquo;s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/omb\/\">Office of Management and Budget<\/a> and its director, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/russell-vought\/\">Russell Vought<\/a>, are also listed as defendants due to their role in not apportioning additional funds from the contingency reserves.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats are blaming the Trump administration for the SNAP funding lapse amid the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/government-shutdown\/\">government shutdown<\/a>, which is now on its 28th day.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Donald Trump is cutting off food assistance for nearly 900,000 Arizonans as we head into the month of Thanksgiving,&rdquo; Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azag.gov\/press-release\/attorney-general-mayes-sues-trump-administration-illegally-suspending-snap-benefits\">said in a statement<\/a>. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m suing to stop him and protect the seniors, veterans, working families and their children all across Arizona who rely on the few hundred dollars a month provided by SNAP to feed themselves.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;USDA not only has authority to use contingency funds, it has a legal duty to spend all available dollars to fund SNAP benefits,&rdquo; California Attorney General Rob Bonta <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/oag.ca.gov\/news\/press-releases\/attorney-general-bonta-sues-trump-administration-unlawfully-suspending-november\">concurred in a press release<\/a>. &ldquo;The Trump Administration, however, has chosen instead to play politics with this essential safety net that so many people depend on &mdash; including 5.5 million individuals in California alone.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Each defendant is being accused of violating the Administrative Procedures Act for suspending SNAP benefits, which the plaintiffs said is contrary to law as well as arbitrary and capricious.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3864920\/upcoming-deadlines-government-shutdown-snap-funding-cuts\/\">FOUR KEY FUNDING CLIFFS NEAR AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CONTINUES WITH NO DEAL IN SIGHT<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Beyond the Democratic attorneys general and governors, Congress is getting involved. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/rachel_schilke\/status\/1983221497322717358\">introduced a bill<\/a>, called the SNAP Back Act, on Tuesday to appropriate fiscal 2026 funds for SNAP and reimburse states for using their funds to cover the federally funded program in the event of a future government shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>The measure is co-led by Stansbury, Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM), and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM), all of whom are New Mexico Democrats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blue states sue USDA over unused SNAP emergency funds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2159,"featured_media":2503941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25300778138678.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[42793,62247,51601,34206,66032],"class_list":["post-2503940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-blue-states","tag-emergency-funds","tag-government-funding-2","tag-snap-benefits","tag-usda-lawsuit"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25300778138678.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2503940"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2503944,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503940\/revisions\/2503944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2503941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2503940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2503940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2503940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}