AG James, 24 other states sue Agriculture Department over SNAP benefits suspension

A coalition of 25 state leaders, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, announced Tuesday it is suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture for what it said was "unlawfully suspending" food assistance benefits beginning Saturday during the federal government shutdown.

The decision "threatens catastrophic consequences" for millions of Americans and will "exacerbate food insecurity nationwide," the coalition said in a news release.

The federal administration's "refusal to issue SNAP payments to more than 40 million Americans — including nearly three million New Yorkers — violates federal law and could leave countless families hungry," the coalition said in the release.

The White House press office referred a Newsday emailed inquiry seeking its reaction to the lawsuit to the federal Office of Management and Budget, which did not immediately respond to Newsday's request for comment.

The USDA was "required" to continue providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, formerly called food stamps, the coalition said, "as long as it has funding, and the agency has billions of dollars in contingency funds that Congress specifically appropriated to keep benefits flowing during funding lapses."

"This would mark the first time in U.S. history that a federal administration has stopped food assistance during a government shutdown," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a Monday statement announcing state funding for emergency food assistance.

Hochul said in a separate announcement on Tuesday that she supported the coalition's lawsuit.

"Three million New Yorkers are set to lose food assistance this Saturday as the Trump Administration unlawfully withholds emergency funding," Hochul said.

"We're proud to assist the Office of the Attorney General in joining 24 other states in suing the Trump Administration, demanding the release of emergency funds so families can continue to put food on the table through this government shutdown," Hochul said.

James said in a statement that more than 42 million Americans nationwide depend on SNAP, and that "children and seniors make up nearly 60% of all SNAP recipients, and well over a million veterans receive SNAP benefits each year." 

"We’re now heading into a SNAP crisis," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) said Tuesday at the Capitol. "It is a man-made Republican crisis because Donald Trump has decided that he wants to force millions of Americans, including possibly 16 million children, to experience hunger."

In a private call Tuesday with fellow Republicans, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told his colleagues about the shutdown: "The pain register is about to hit level 10," people on that call said. He blamed Democrats.

Earlier Tuesday, during a Capitol news conference, Johnson dismissed the idea of passing separate bills to fund food assistance programs or pay federal workers, claiming Democrats would block those bills too. 

And on Monday, Johnson shot down the use of SNAP contingency reserve money, saying: "The contingency funds are not legally available to cover the benefits right now."