Press Release  AG Campbell Challenges Trump Administration's Demands that States "Undo" Issuance of Full SNAP Benefits

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell co-led a coalition of 22 other attorneys general and three governors in filing a further motion for a temporary restraining order in her lawsuit against the Trump Administration for unlawfully suspending Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for more than 42 million Americans who rely on the program for food. In their motion, the coalition asks the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to block the Trump Administration’s directive to claw back full SNAP benefits that were authorized in response to a court order in Rhode Island, as well as guidance issued directly by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

“When Massachusetts authorized full SNAP benefits to our residents – something the federal government should have done weeks ago – we were following a court order and USDA’s own guidance,” said AG Campbell. “The federal government cannot claw back these critical resources from the children, elders, veterans, and people with disabilities who need them, nor can they punish our states for taking the necessary steps to process benefits for our residents. We’ll continue to fight in court until this Administration stops using our residents as political bargaining chips.” 

On November 7, after the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island ordered USDA to make full SNAP benefits available to the states, USDA informed states that it was complying with the Court’s order and completing the processes necessary to make full SNAP benefits available. As a result of the Court’s order and USDA’s guidance, Massachusetts and other states took action to authorize the release of full SNAP benefits for their residents.  

One day later, after successfully filing an emergency application with the Supreme Court to block the lower court’s order, USDA abruptly demanded that states “undo” the efforts taken to administer full SNAP benefits. The federal government threatened to hold states financially liable for taking steps to process full benefits for their residents. 

In their motion for a temporary restraining order, the coalition argues that USDA has once again placed impossible burdens on states and that the November 8 directive must be enjoined.  

Joining AG Campbell in submitting the amended motion were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Minnesota, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, along with the governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. 

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