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A coalition of 25 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C. sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to block what they described as illegal cuts to federal food assistance, accusing the White House of using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as leverage in the ongoing government shutdown.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, argues that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has unlawfully refused to use appropriated funds to continue issuing SNAP benefits to roughly 42 million Americans, despite having access to a $6 billion contingency fund designated for that purpose.
“The Department of Agriculture cannot simply suspend all benefits indefinitely, while refusing to spend funds from available appropriations for SNAP benefits for eligible households,” the complaint states.
The administration contends that the USDA lacks the authority to use contingency funds because the underlying appropriation expired when the shutdown began. “The contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists,” USDA officials wrote in a memo last week.
If the agency’s position stands, millions of low-income families could lose access to food aid starting this weekend — a development that lawmakers from both parties acknowledge would be the most severe consequence of the monthlong shutdown so far.
Shutdown politics intensify
The legal fight comes as the shutdown reaches its 28th day, with Congress deadlocked over how to reopen the government. Democrats have blocked Republican funding bills that exclude renewed health care subsidies, while GOP leaders have refused to negotiate those subsidies until the government is funded.
Democrats accuse President Donald Trump of “weaponizing” food assistance by declining to authorize payments during the standoff. “The truth is the department has the money,” said North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, one of the Democratic officials backing the lawsuit. “They are looking to ratchet up the pain in an already painful moment. This is wrong, and it’s against the law.”
USDA response
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, speaking Tuesday on CNN News Central, said the department’s contingency fund is far short of the $9.2 billion needed to sustain November benefits.
“As of today, that $9.2 billion, we don’t even have close to that in contingency funding,” Rollins said. “We’ve got to get this government open.”
She added that a “clean continuing resolution” — a short-term funding bill that maintains current spending levels — would restore SNAP benefits immediately. But congressional Democrats have rejected that option without a broader deal on expiring subsidies.
Administration and court details
The White House referred questions about the lawsuit to the Office of Management and Budget, whose spokesperson said Democrats “chose to shut down the government knowing full well that SNAP would soon run out of funds.”
The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama-era appointee confirmed unanimously by the Senate in 2014.
The plaintiffs note that the March 2025 spending bill — which averted an earlier shutdown — specifically appropriated $6 billion for the SNAP contingency fund, and that the USDA’s own public materials as recently as September acknowledged those funds as part of its shutdown plan.
For now, the legal challenge adds another front to the growing political and humanitarian crisis surrounding the shutdown, with both sides blaming the other as tens of millions face the risk of losing food assistance within days.
