- Office of the Attorney General
Media Contact
Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary
Boston — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today issued the following statement after a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump Administration to fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by Friday, November 7. The Trump Administration has since appealed that ruling.
“I am grateful that the Court has issued a swift and decisive order directing the federal government to fully fund the SNAP program. Even after the judge made the federal government’s legal obligations crystal clear, the Trump Administration continues to resist its responsibility to feed hungry people,” said AG Campbell. “The federal government has always had the money to fund this program, but instead of prioritizing the health and wellbeing American families including children and seniors, they choose to use it as political bargaining chip.”
About one in eight Americans rely on SNAP benefits to buy groceries and feed their families. In Massachusetts, nearly 60 percent of recipients are children and elders.
This ruling comes after an unlawful attempt by the Trump Administration to only partially fund the SNAP program in a way that created chaos and further delays for states. AG Campbell co-led a separate lawsuit against the Trump Administration for suspending SNAP benefits in a manner that is both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.
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